With more and more negative PR surrounding global warming and pollution than ever before, it’s never been more important to make eco-friendly paving solutions part of your business and home maintenance routine. By switching to environmentally friendly paving products, you can help decrease your own personal impact on the environment and endear your property to clients and guests alike.
A few simple steps can help to ensure that your paved spaces are as earth-friendly as possible while also maintaining the integrity of the area and meeting local and national environmental regulations. Here are just a few things to consider:
Changing the Asphalt Surface
Using low-VOC, bio-based, PAH-free asphalt sealants is one of the easiest ways you can reduce your own personal impact on the environment while still keeping your driveways and other asphalt surfaces in great condition. They’re great for repairing or resealing driveways, parking lots, golf cart paths, and any other hard-surfaced areas that need to be kept in tip-top shape.
Installing Permeable Pavers, Pervious Concrete or Pervance Asphalt
Increasingly strict state and local environmental regulations have made it more appealing to businesses and organizations to limit stormwater runoff by installing green, permeable alternatives to standard pavements. By decreasing the amount of runoff and limiting the need for catch basin installation line items on-site, these paving options can save property owners both money and hassle.
You can avoid requiring expensive, underground water-retention ponds by installing permeable or porous pavements such as pavers, porous asphalt, or pervious concrete. This allows you to meet your natural resources requirements without breaking the bank, said Mike Dickey of Presto Geosystems in Wisconsin.
Switching to a green, permeable, or pervance asphalt alternative can cost more per square foot than standard blacktop, but there are many financial benefits to this type of paving solution.
Lowering Fuel Consumption
Reducing the fuel consumption of trucks, buses, and cars is a key factor in reducing energy costs for both the company and consumers. Studies have shown that a truck traveling on concrete pavement instead of asphalt will use 4% to 6% less gas to complete the same distance.
Providing More Reflectivity (Albedo) For World Cooling
By changing the color and reflectivity of the pavement, you can help to offset greenhouse gases that are produced by burning coal or oil for electricity production, transportation, and other industrial processes. By increasing the albedo of pavement, you’re also helping to mitigate urban heat islands and the smog they cause.
These pavements can be used in roadways, parking lots, highways, and other paved areas and can improve traffic flow, decrease vehicle emissions, improve pedestrian safety, and increase visibility. They can also contribute to global cooling by absorbing solar energy and reflecting it back into space.