ASU Art Museum pervious parking lot
The SMART Center’s visual communication student, Jon Nicol, created a video demonstrating the National Center of Excellence’s pervious parking lot project.
<< Download Video >>
PROJECT LOCATION:
Parking lot in front of the ASU Art Museum in the Nelson Fine Arts Center at the southeast corner of Mill Avenue and 10th Street on the ASU Tempe campus.
PROJECT DETAILS:
This is a project of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s designated National Center for Excellence in SMART Innovations for Urban Climate and Energy at ASU. The center is an extension of the university’s Global Institute of Sustainability and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering.
Partners in the project include ASU Parking and Transit Services, the Arizona Cement Association, the CEMEX USA company, Progressive Concrete Works Inc, which is the contractor for the Pervious Concrete Parking Lot, and Border Products, which donated the Geotextile used in the project.
BASICS OF PERVIOUS CONCRETE:
Pervious concrete is a durable high-porosity concrete that allows water and air to pass through it, making it an important element in the growing sustainable construction movement. The paving material is recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for its benefits for water-pollution control, storm water management, safety, and in reducing the negative impact of urban heat islands and for allowing trees and other plant life to flourish even in areas of intensive land development.
Pervious concrete also is recognized by the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program for enabling integration of paving and drainage that allows for a smaller development footprint on land sites by reducing the amount of land needed to manage storm water.
Pollution control: It eliminates water pollution through natural biological processes. As water infiltrates the soil beneath the pavement, larger pollutants are filtered out and/or microorganisms break down pollutants until they are inert.
Recharging ground water aquifers: Instead of diverting water to a storm water drainage system, infiltrating water will eventually reach aquifers to help replenish them.
Urban climate control: By absorbing and storing less heat, it reduces the heat buildup and heat radiation produced by conventional asphalt and concrete pavements.
Improving tree health: By improving the access of air and water to root systems, trees that surround pervious concrete parking lots have been shown to live long and grow wider than trees in areas with impervious pavements.
SAFETY:
By preventing standing water from pooling on paved surfaces it reduces the potential for vehicles hydroplaning and causing drivers to lose control.
Temperature and moisture sensors are being used to measure the environmental performance of ASU’s new Pervious Parking Lot to compare it with ASU parking lots with conventional pavements.
ASU researchers plan to use the data to develop technical guidelines for communities or businesses that want to install pervious parking lots.
I am interested in knowing more about the format of the pervious concrete video that is viewable on the web. I have two questions.
After the raw footage was edited, what format was the video rendered in: mov, avi, etc?
What software did you use to convert the video to Flash?
Thanks for the information.
John, the video was rendered into a mov format and then I used Adobe Flash CS3 Video Converter to convert the video to a streaming flv file at 800 kbps.
ASU Art Museum Pervious Parking Lot
Question: what is to prevent the spaces being filled up by dirt, etc. over time?
The primary concern with pervious pavements is soil and other fine particles. The pavement will continue to drain, all be it at a slower rate, if the pores fill with sand. This is not the case if the pores fill up with soil.
Nevertheless, it is recommended that pavements be power washed or vacuumed on an annual basis. This will help keep the pores open and allow the water to flow through. Keep in mind that pervious pavements can drain a very large volume of water. So even it the pores are clogged temporarily, the pavement will still drain, again just at a slower rate.
What is the cost of the installed pervious concrete system.
The cost of a pervious pavement will vary around the country. Although this is not new technology, its use in some parts of the country is in its infancy. You will pay a premium for pervious until producers, specifiers, contractors, etc become more comfortable using this material.
What is to prevent oil leaks and seepage from cars getting into the soil underneath? Is encapsulating the gravel bed with geofabric necessary to prevent surrounding fines from penetrating?
I’m interested in installing a driveway of this material. Is this material appropriate for a residential application?
Would you recommend hiring the same contractor you used? Are there other contractors who know how to install this material successfully? Can you tell me how to connect with any of these contractors?
For more information on Pervious Concrete, using yahoo.com, type in Delatte, Miller, Mrkajic. This will generate a report that was produced by Cleveland State University on the freeze-thaw performance of PCPC. It also includes 22 case studies from OH, PA, IN, and CO. It is a great read, and is full of viable information on PCPC.
The main site for pervious concrete shows these applications, one of which is residential driveways:
Table 1. Applications for Pervious Concrete
Low-volume pavements
Residential roads, alleys, and driveways
Sidewalks and pathways
Parking areas
Low water crossings
Tennis courts
Subbase for conventional concrete pavements
Patios
Artificial reefs
Slope stabilization
Well linings
Tree grates in sidewalks
Foundations / floors for greenhouses, fish hatcheries,
aquatic amusement centers, and zoos
Hydraulic structures
Swimming pool decks
Pavement edge drains
Groins and seawalls
Noise barriers
Walls (including load-bearing)
I’ve been told, for an industrial application, that it does not stand up well to truck traffic.
That does not mean a residential driveway would be a problem, unless you have very heavy vehicles, such as a camper or motor-home, or can’t control the types of vehicles that may drive or park on it.
This looks like a great product. I would like to know how much does it cost , how does it work in the northern states like Illinois with snow and ice, how long will it last, does it hurt to have clay dirt under the stone base will it still drain as fast, could it be better on roads in the winter for traction and possible
us less salt on the streets because it is more porus than ashfault and and concrete ? Thank You,
Vern Beechy
I would like to use pervious concrete as the foundation for a backyard basketball court in Durham, NC (see snapsports.com). My neighborhood developer allocated very little impervious square footage per lot and therefore the court foundation must not count against my total impervious square footage. Unfortunately, the city of Durham does not recognize pervious concrete as true pervious surface material the way the recognize wood decks, for example. I am going to meet next week with the city of Durham Joint City Planning committee to request a text addendum to the Durham Unified Development Ordinance to recognize pervious concrete as true pervious surface that should not count toward residential impervious total square footage. Anyone have any useful data that could be used as ammo in this argument? I would like to gather studies supporting the efficacy of water drainage through pervious concrete, particularly versus standard concrete. I would also like to know what prececent exists in other cities laws/regulations that recognize pervious concrete the same way they recognize wood decks in terms of it being a true pervious surface. Any help would be hugely appreciated.