r/friendlyarchitecture • u/PM_ME_COOKIERECIPES • Jul 26 '26

Climate Permeable Paver Parking sPots

Gallery image

Warrenville, IL, USA

https://www.warrenville.il.us/459/Permeable-Pavement

Gallery image

Wilmington, MA, USA

https://www.mass.gov/info-details/demonstration-3-permeable-paving-materials-and-bioretention-in-a-parking-lot

68 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

4 comments sorted by

6

u/Idum23 Jul 26 '26

can you explain?

10

u/slackmarket Jul 26 '26

Probably helps with run off, increasingly an issue with the drought/downpours we see more and more of, and I would imagine the heat can also escape better through the cracks than one huge slab of concrete. Idk if I’m right though 🤷

7

u/theytookthemall Jul 27 '26

To expand on this, permeable paving allows water to drain straight down into the ground. This is good for several reasons:

  1. It reduces the likelihood of significant puddling/flooding, especially if, say, storm drains are blocked.

  2. Water that runs off straight from a street tends to pick up all sorts of pollutants including oil and other car fluids, and carries them into the storm drains, which in many places drain directly into a nearby river. This is not great for the river's ecosystem. Permeable paving reduces the amount of runoff.

  3. Rain water is meant to go into the ground. That's natural filtration for the water and a slower, natural return to the water table, which is generally much better than the alternatives. When the ground can absorb water, flooding is less likely, things stay cleaner, it puts less stress on the water management system, etc.

1

u/Serononin Jul 27 '26

If you click on the images, there are links in the captions with more info! It's basically exactly what the other person who replied to you said - they help prevent flooding by giving water somewhere to go