[greenbuild] Re: Suggestions for road surface?
- From: William Myers <WMyers@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: greenbuild@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2001 11:58:17 -0400
At 11:04 AM 4/28/2001 -0400, you wrote:
>We have a (currently gravel) 1/2 mile road. The graveling seems like a lot
>of ongoing maintenance, expensive over the long term, while asphalt or
>sprayed oils seem pretty un-green. I'm thinking maybe brick would be
>greenest option due to its durability, despite the embodied energy. Not
>sure, but brick may be prohibitively expensive, even using our own labor.
>What about salvaging broken concrete or other materials? Any ideas?
>Thanks.
Here's a short clipping from Paul Hawken about an environmental design for=
=20
parking lots. We have a sample of the material from a firm in=20
Syracuse. The material is a two inch tall recycled plastic matrix=20
mat. You gravel the surface then put the mat down and grow grass through=20
it. The mat supports the cars and prevents the grass from getting squashed.
Bill Myers
o We showed them a plan to retrofit all of the parking lots in town.=
=20
They were all classic solid paved areas built with slopes starting in the=20
middle and draining towards the edges so that the water would go to the=20
streets and not leave the cars sitting in water.
What we talked about is retrofitting them with permeable or pervious paving=
=20
which is used in industrial parks all throughout Europe. It is standard=20
operating procedure over there right now - but somehow America never=20
figured that out.
What we suggested is making the parking lots - whether they be private or=20
public - into "parks" that you park cars on. So not only was there pervious=
=20
paving =85 but we also put very tough resistant sedges and grasses in these=
=20
tiles so that they take up a tremendous amount of water, and act to=20
recharge the groundwater. And in all the medians and perimeters of the=20
parking lots, we planted trees that were water-loving and fast-
growing that also reflected the variety of trees that were once in the=20
area. We actually named them - just like in a botanical garden
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