[GBlist] grassy pavers

["Chris Webb" <chris@2020engineering.com>]

Bill-

There are a few types of grassy pavers out there.  There are also other
types of porous pavements that may be more appropriate. As you state the
grass paving products are for very low traffic.  The grass does not do
well with even moderate traffic or cars parked in one place on it for
long periods of time. The reinforced grass still has to be mowed and it
seems to work best for fire access lanes, overflow parking, etc. Here
are some choices:

http://www.rkmfg.com/grassypavers.asp
http://www.invisiblestructures.com/GP2/grasspave.htm
http://www.sspco.org/geoblock.html

We have used permeable interlocking concrete pavers on driveways, which
have drainage holes but no grass.

http://www.uni-groupusa.org/uni-eco-.htm

If I were you I would use the grass if it is going to get less than
daily traffic and if you want more durability for higher traffic
frequency then use the EcoStone.  Of course each of these have different
price points.

Here in Washington State with our stormwater regulations and impervious
surface fees, this helps make these options be more cost effective.  I
am not sure if this is the case where you are.

--Chris
................................
Christopher J. Webb, PE
Principal
LEED Accredited Professional
2020 ENGINEERING, Inc.
Mailing: PO BOX 1621, Bellingham, WA 98227-1621
Physical: 700 Dupont Street, Bellingham, WA 98225
(360)671-2020 fax:(360)671-0322
http://www.2020engineering.com
48°45'21"N / 122°28'57"W

-----Original Message-----
From: William Revelle [mailto:wr@revelle.net] 
Sent: Monday, October 28, 2002 8:08 PM
To: greenbuilding@crest.org
Subject: [GBlist] grassy pavers


Dear list members,

Our house is progressing.  PV roofing slates from Atlantis Energy 
should be installed next week, insulation is going in this week, the 
solar hot water system soon after that.  With the help of this list 
we tracked down someone to take the wood construction waste we were 
producing (our builder was delighted, not only were we able to 
recycle the wood, the cost was less).

The question for tonight is the relative merits of various types of 
grassy pavers.  We want to minimize the water runoff from our 
driveway and are planning on using grassy pavers to let the water 
drain into the soil.  We have seen concrete pavers with large holes 
for grass in Europe and a few sites in the states.  The ones we have 
seen seem to work pretty well for the low level of traffic we expect. 
(We mainly walk or ride bikes.)  We have also been shown plastic 
pavers made from recycled plastic here in the states.  They seem to 
have a greater percentage of open surface for grass than do the 
concrete pavers. They seem a little less solid and less comfortable 
to walk on. We have not yet seen any working examples. Does anyone on 
the list have experience with either kind of grassy paver?

Questions we are worrying about include:
a) how well does the grass actually grow inside the paver?
b) how does one deal with snow removal (other than setting the 
snowplow blade up a few inches)?
c) which is more comfortable when walking on them with bare feet?
d) What other problems we have not thought of yet?

Thanks.

Bill

-- 
William Revelle			http://revelle.net/revelle.html
2302 Orrington Avenue
Evanston, Illinois
Building a carbon neutral house
http://revelle.net/lakeside/energy.html

______________________________________________________________________
This greenbuilding dialogue is sponsored by REPP/CREST, creator of
Solstice http://www.crest.org, and BuildingGreen, Inc., publisher of
Environmental Building News and GreenSpec http://www.BuildingGreen.com
______________________________________________________________________





______________________________________________________________________
This greenbuilding dialogue is sponsored by REPP/CREST, creator of
Solstice http://www.crest.org, and BuildingGreen, Inc., publisher of
Environmental Building News and GreenSpec http://www.BuildingGreen.com
______________________________________________________________________