Eco-responsible Parking, Super C Buckingham

Parking lots are ubiquitous in our living environments. These hostile spaces have many negative impacts on the environment. Due to their large size and lack of vegetation and water features, parking lots form sterile areas for biodiversity, hindering the creation of green corridors through the urban fabric. The impermeability caused by the use of materials like asphalt also impacts soil quality.

Parking lots are significant sources of heat islands due to the quality of the material used (asphalt), its color (dark), and the absence of trees and vegetation (natural air conditioning). These areas tend to retain the heat emitted by sunlight rather than reflect it into the atmosphere, causing an artificial increase in temperature nearby.

Surface parking lots generally have impermeable surfaces that contribute to the issue of runoff. In the event of heavy rain, stormwater, which cannot infiltrate the soil, is directed straight into the sewers. It is common for pipes to be unable to handle such large volumes of water, and the immense pressure can reduce their durability.

To prevent backups, excess water is then discharged, untreated, directly into watercourses. It’s easy to imagine the pollution of the hydrological network that follows.
With the increasing frequency and intensity of rains expected due to climate change, these discharges will multiply, and oversizing the pipes is not a sustainable solution due to the high implementation costs.

There are solutions, such as permeable paving, which is recognized as one of the best practices for managing stormwater according to the USEPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency).

The HydroDrain pavers from Bolduc, installed on a foundation of open-graded stone, form a system for temporarily storing surface runoff water. This system can replace traditional impermeable paving in order to control and/or reduce the volume of runoff directed to storm sewers, minimize the use of temporary retention structures, and improve the quality of runoff water that returns to the environment.

Environmental benefits are achieved through groundwater recharge by rainwater and in the reduction of pollutants and sediments that are discharged into watercourses.

The Avenue 100 permeable pavers from the HydroDrain collection by Bolduc, with their granite gray color, help reduce heat islands in addition to their permeable system, have been installed to contribute to the sustainable development of cities.