Purpose

Porous pavements have been called "potentially the most important development in urban watersheds since the invention of the automobile" and "the holy grail of environmental site design." Properly designed and installed porous pavements infiltrate stormwater at the source, allow the oils from cars and trucks to biodegrade safely, improve driving safety, reduce traffic noise, reduce urban temperatures, and make the "urban forest" thrive. Unlike stormwater retention basins, porous pavements are at-source environmental solutions that build stormwater capacity into urban construction materials. They constitute a range of materials that are available for selective application in all types of land-use settings. Thirty-five years of technological development and on-the-ground experience make porous pavements a powerful and proven technology for designers who use these materials knowledgeably. Their potential application is vast, because pavements are the most ubiquitous structures built by mankind.

Audience

This course is addressed to professional architects, landscape architects, civil engineers, environmental planners, urban foresters, and construction product manufacturers and installers. It gives responsible design and construction professionals the information they need to successfully select, design, install, and maintain porous paving materials for site-specific purposes of surface drainage, stormwater management, tree rooting habitat, accessibility, appearance, and cost control. It supplements basic training in site design, site drainage, construction materials, and horticulture with the special concepts of porous pavements and their implications for the urban environment. With factual knowledge of experience in the field and theoretical understanding of underlying mechanisms, responsible professionals can evaluate one kind of pavement material against another, identify qualified products and installers, and specify and install porous pavements successfully within budget, client, and site requirements.

Content

This course spans the range of major porous paving materials: porous aggregate, porous turf, plastic geocells, open-jointed blocks, porous concrete, and porous asphalt. Each material has its own physical requirements, industry standards, cost implications, and advantages and disadvantages for specific applications.

This course emphasizes the factual results of on-the-ground experience and scientific research in order to dispel the myths and rumors that have surrounded this new technology. It presents numerous case studies of actual experiences in the Southeast and other parts of North America, some of which illustrate models for emulation and others that are failures from which practitioners can learn how to do better in the future.

The course's first half introduces the various families of porous paving materials, including the nature of each material, the organization of the industry that supplies it, and its distinctive installation methods, performance levels, and appropriate applications. In addition, basic principles of pavement structure, pavement hydrology, and pavement rooting space are introduced as a foundation for all porous paving applications. The scientifically monitored stormwater performance of porous pavements is presented. Numerous case studies of porous pavement installations are presented, and the ways they work to affect stormwater, heat island, cost, and development feasibility are explained. The afternoon session, "Porous Pavements in Green Building," reviews the role of porous pavements in green building and sustainable site design in general, including the USGBC LEED rating system and and the role of porous pavements in it.

The final session, "Porous Pavements: From Science to Installation," focuses on the design and constructability of porous pavements from the viewpoint of an experienced installer. It includes how to read and understand industry specifications and how to make sure the project specifications support the design function. It includes selecting appropriate base materials for the design function (infiltration, conveyance, and/or storage), and what base materials to avoid. It includes working with and around trees and how to expand root growth areas for urban trees. Special considerations for pervious concrete installation are presented, including mix design, curing times, finishing techniques, curing periods, maintenance, and visual inspection standards. Important concrete production details are given, such as distance to concrete plant, where and how the aggregate is stored, where the cement is produced, how to adjust mix and procedures, and truck condition and configuration.

Contact Hours Information

This course has been approved by the Florida Board of Landscape Architecture for six and three-quarters (6.75) contact hours. We have submitted this course to the North Carolina Board of Landscape Architects, which has approved it in previous years. This course will meet the continuing education criteria of the Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee boards.

Instructors

Bruce K. Ferguson is the Franklin Professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Georgia. His 2005 book Porous Pavements was the first, and is still the only, comprehensive review of porous paving technology and its effects. One reviewer called the book "a new bible." Ferguson is also the author of the books Stormwater Infiltration and Introduction to Stormwater. Harvard University professor Robert France referred to Ferguson as "the world expert in stormwater infiltration." Using the results of his stormwater and porous pavement research, Ferguson conducts professional continuing education courses for design practitioners nationally and internationally, and provides consulting services nationally on the application of new environmental technologies in landscape architecture. Ferguson is a licensed landscape architect in Georgia. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects and a past president of the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture; he is a recipient of the Council's Outstanding Educator Award, the highest award for lifetime contributions to landscape architectural education in North America. He obtained a BA degree at Dartmouth College and a Master of Landscape Architecture degree at the University of Pennsylvania.

Alfred Vick is assistant professor of landscape architecture at the University of Georgia and a vice president of Ecos Environmental Design, Inc., in Atlanta. He is a licensed landscape architect in Georgia and a LEED Accredited Professional. His work focuses on preserving and enhancing the functioning of natural systems while effectively and attractively integrating human use. At UGA he teaches landscape ecology and sustainable landscape design. His work with Ecos has included three LEED-certified buildings for Woodward Academy, and the new Southface Eco-office, which is currently under construction and targeting a LEED platinum rating. He has presented numerous professional lectures on water conservation, storm water management, and invasive exotic plants. He earned a BS in engineering psychology from the University of Illinois and a Master of Landscape Architecture degree from UGA.

Chere Peterson is the owner and chief executive of Petrus UTR, Inc. in Savannah (www.petrusutr.com), a vertically integrated, low impact stormwater solutions construction company. In that role, she is an American Concrete Institute Certified Flatwork Technician; a Portland Cement Pervious Association certified pervious concrete installer; the Invisible Structures, Inc. Distributor for South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama; and ISI's National Manufacturer Installation Representative. She has installed porous pavements of various kinds throughout the Southeast. Her pervious concrete installations at Stephen C. Foster State Park, Jarrell Plantation, and Fitzgerald Wal-Mart received awards for innovation and excellence from the Georgia Chapter of the American Concrete Institute. With more than 20 years of design-build experience, she conducts seminars for government officials, utilities, and design professionals across the U.S. She has instructed practitioners in stormwater management and tree preservation, has been a guest lecturer at the University of Georgia's landscape architecture program, and has given professional presentations nationwide at conferences on stormwater management, landscape architecture, architecture, soil conservation, campus planning and construction, and environmental protection. Peterson is a board member of the Portland Cement Pervious Association and a member of the American Concrete Institute, the South Carolina Urban and Community Forestry Council, the Georgia Urban Forest Council, the Soil and Water Conservation Society, the International Society of Aboriculture, and the United States Green Building Council.

Objectives, Handouts, Resources

The objectives of the course are to give responsible design and construction professionals the information they need to successfully select, design, install, and maintain porous paving materials for the purposes of surface drainage, stormwater management, tree rooting habitat, pedestrian accessibility, appearance, and cost control. Course handouts consist of lecture slide printouts. Additional detailed resources, to be pointed out for reference after the course, are Bruce K. Ferguson's book Porous Pavements, existing industry standards such as those of PCPA, and industry Web sites that are expected to distribute updated information in the future.

Schedule

OUTLINE NARRATIVE

Porous Pavement: What It Is For, Getting It Built

• Porous pavements' general effects on urban environment
• Stormwater quantity and quality, urban tree viability, urban heat island, traffic safety, noise, and cost
• Porous aggregate, porous turf, porous concrete and asphalt, open-celled block
• Nature of the material, industry organization, distinctive installation methods, performance levels, appropriate applications
• Fundamental porous pavement components and requirements
• Layout, compaction, and other critical points in specification
• Principles of pavement structure, hydrology, and tree rooting space

Reference: Bruce K. Ferguson's book Porous Pavements

Porous Pavement: How It Performs, Seeing It at Work

• Monitored effects on stormwater quantity and quality
• Case studies of selective application
• How they work to create their environmental and cost effects
• Special case studies for stormwater management, urban tree viability, urban heat island, heavy traffic load, ecological preservation, cost control, development feasibility

Reference: Bruce K. Ferguson's book Porous Pavements

Porous Pavements in Green Building

• Overview of green building, sustainable design, and LEED
• Role of porous pavement

Reference: USGBC (US Green Building Council), LEED Rating System

Porous Pavements: From Science to Installation

• How to read and understand industry specifications
• How to make sure the project specifications support the design function
• Selecting appropriate base materials for the design function
• What base materials to avoid
• Working with and around trees; how to expand root growth areas
• Special considerations for pervious concrete installation
• Mix design, curing times, finishing techniques, and curing periods
• Maintenance and visual inspection standards
• Concrete production details

Reference: PCPA (Portland Cement Pervious Association) Standards

Georgia Center Information

The Georgia Center for Continuing Education Conference Center & Hotel, located on the beautiful, historic campus of the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, provides innovative lifelong learning opportunities that develop intellectual and human potential. A total living and learning environment, the Georgia Center includes a 200-room hotel, restaurants, banquet areas, conference rooms, auditoriums, a fitness center, and computer lab — all under one roof. As a unit of UGA's Office of the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach, the Center brings the University's teaching, research, and service expertise to the people of Georgia and beyond! For more information, visit www.georgiacenter.uga.edu.

Special Needs:
If you require special services, facilities, or dietary considerations, contact Marie Brame at 706-542-2335 or Marie.Brame@georgiacenter.uga.edu, at least five business days before your event.

Lodging (Georgia Center Hotel):
A block of rooms is being held for your conference until 5:00 p.m. ET, April 24, 2008. Policies: (1) Tax Exemption — The State of Georgia only allows tax-exempt charges for a payment by a state-issued credit card or check or by a direct bill to a state agency (with a Georgia State Tax Exemption Certificate). (2) Lodging Cancellation — Cancel your reservation by 4:00 p.m. ET the day prior to your scheduled arrival to avoid being charged one night's room and tax. (3) At check-in, you must present your credit card or a completed credit card authorization form (for a copy, call 800-884-1381, Mon.-Fri., 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET). Note: The Georgia Center is a smoke-free building; all lodging rooms are nonsmoking.

Travel Information:
Athens, Georgia, is located about 60 miles northeast of Atlanta. For directions, see www.georgiacenter.uga.edu/conferences/about/directions.phtml. A parking deck is located adjacent to the Center (hourly rates, maximum $8 each 24-hour period; vehicle height limit, 7 feet). Athens is served by two airports. Athens-Ben Epps Airport offers connecting flights to and from Charlotte, NC. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is located about 90 minutes southwest of Athens, with scheduled ground shuttle service and rental car service available between the airport and the Georgia Center.

Program Cancellation Policies:
(1) Full refunds are available for cancellations made by 5:00 p.m. ET, May 5, 2008. No refunds will be issued thereafter; substitutions will be allowed. (2) If a program is cancelled for any reason, the Georgia Center will not be responsible for any charges related to travel.

Registration