Anyone install a living driveway using any of the products such as Eco-Grid, Home-Grid, etc?

I'd like to do this in my new home construction to reduce/eliminate the heat island created by concrete driveways, but wondered about ease of installation, how well it holds up, and it's cost relative to concrete.

thanks

They are interesting products and have some potential considering hard cover issues. But from what I can see and have experienced the "living" part might be tough. Plants can't hold up to much traffic, like a driveway.

Similar systems have been used successfully for decades in Europe.

From a Heat island standpoint- First, I think you have some misconceptions about the heat island effect. The heat island effect is solely based off the wavelengths of light that the material absorbs and/or reflects, aka the color. Black asphalt pavement is the worst, but white concrete is one of the best materials for reducing heat islanding. The absolute best would be a mirror finish, but that is unreasonable considering cost and the fact it would be ugly(in my opinion). Green plants and light grey blocks actually are a bit worse at heat islanding than a pure white surface. Green plants are worse because they are absorbing the red spectrum, while reflecting the blue and yellow(making you see green), while concrete reflects all three(making you see white). The green grass will feel cooler because the thermal conductivity between your feet and the grass will be less than the thermal conductivity between the concrete and your feet. For example, on a cool day standing on a rug feels warmer than standing on a hardwood floor even though they are the same temperature. In the same way the 110 degree concrete will feel warmer than the 125 degree grass, but either will feel warmer than the 160 degree blacktop.

From a practical standpoint- Two words, High Heels.

Lastly, from an eco standpoint, since the grass clippings will eventually rot, the net carbon emissions from the grass will be zero.(all the carbon absorbed in the growing process will be re-released in the rotting process) If you plan on using a power mower to cut the grass, the emmisions will actually be very negative. However the concrete will be slightly worse at the outset, because it does use more cememet than the pavers, but then better as time goes by, as it doesn't take any maintinance. However, if you plan to cut the grass using a sycle or other such non carbon producing tool, the grass will be slightly more eco friendly.

The two products you mentioned, showed gravel or rocks in the grid for driveways and even walkways. Grass for roofs and overflow, I take that as occasional, parking.

Check this out: http://invisiblestructures.com/GP2/grasspave.htm


We are considering Grasspave2 for our new home construction. They state it's 10% to 15% more expensive than concrete. We are still in the design stage though and we are looking for more alternatives. So if someone has other options, please let us know.

I hope the above site helps.

Best Regards,
DaveS

Hi, did you find something?
Other driveway ideas that are eco-friendly and responsible: http://www.greenhomeimprovement.com/products/green-vast-pavers

Hey Thanks, and I won't have to mow it.  I have requested info. I'm wondering the cost.

Thanks Again,
DaveS

DaveS, be sure to let us know what you find out about those Vast pavers (especially price!). They look interesting.

In the meantime I'm sure you have considered the obvious:

turf pavers

Not exactly economical then, is it.

I hear you, brother! At some point GREEN technology will need to be the cheapest way to build, or it just isn't going to continue to grow.

An analogy: I got back to the states a year ago from a decade living in Bavaria. The local German farmers there raised their crops and livestock organically. It wasn't a trend, though, because they had *always* farmed organically. The reason was because it was the cheapest way to do it - they didn't have to pay for insecticide, herbicide, growth hormones, sucker-sprayers, et cetera. When the big organic craze hit they were like, "what's the big deal, we've always done it that way."

But back to the point, even if you just stick to plain old pavers, you're still being far greener than the average homeowner or builder who lays a concrete driveway. You can always dig up paving stones and reuse them. But I can't tell you how many old concrete driveways I've seen busted up and hauled away to a landfill just this summer. And what do they put down to replace their old cracked concrete driveway? A brand new concrete driveway.

That's interesting on the concrete being hauled to a landfill as it's 100% recyclable and has been not part of the waste stream here in California for years for several reasons including the tipping fees are based on weight, the fact that it is recyclable, and the mandate from the state to reduce the amount of material going into the landfills.  I'm surprised that there isn't a company in your neck of the woods that isn't taking the 'crete and reusing it.  BTW the interlocking pavers are really good at eliminating the cracking problem aren't they?

I've always thought that depending on how cheap aggregate is in your area it might be a good business to get into (concrete recycling) as it's pretty much ready to be re-used.  All you need is the heavy equipment to move it around and a crusher.  This does bring up a question relating to unintended consequences.  Fly ash is being used more and more as part of a concrete mix.  We had it used on a project we did the plans for (a 7,000 s.f. church and offices) as the contractor wanted to use it to improve the way the concrete could be worked and because it was cheaper than other aggregate, not for any green purposes although that is one of the features that people like about it.  The concrete came out okay but here and there needed to be ground a little bit for various reasons.  I remember being out on the site and seeing these guys with no masks at all, not even particle masks grinding away with dry grinders on this concrete, being enveloped in clouds of dust.  I told my helper to stay upwind and talked to the foreman about it but all he said was "It's almost done by now" and sure enough they stopped shortly afterwards. 

I wondered at that time and thinking about the issue of concrete recycling now has me wondering again how many toxic metals, which are part of fly ash and thus become part of the concrete, leach out or are picked up in the dust and how much of a potential problem is this going to become as more and more fly ash is used in concrete.  I was thinking maybe there could be a way to color concrete that has toxic compounds in it so special precautions could be taken when doing things with it that cause dust and would like to find out if there are leaching issues with materials that are part of the mix.  If anyone has any ideas on this please post.


Rio

One should use at least a dust mask or better yet a respirator even when mixing pure Portland cement with sand and pea gravel, but most don't. Add fly ash and heavy metals to the mix and I hate to think of the ramifications.

Drives me crazy seeing all that concrete from old driveways go to the landfill, but there's not much I can do. If the pieces were small enough for two guys to pick up then I would go and haul a bunch of it to my site. It wouldn't even have to be ground into aggregate. I've seen the chunks used like flagstones to very good effect.

I seem to recall an onsite grinder setup on one of the HGTV shows that recycled the concrete on the spot. Wonder what the costs are compared to haul-away and new material.