Pervious Concrete Gaining Strong Acceptance, Foothold in Connecticut

What a difference a few years make: recently, Jim Langlois with the Connecticut Concrete Promotion Council and NRMCA Senior Director, National Resources Doug O’Neill teamed up to present in front of the state chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects at its Permeable Pavement Conference. In early 2011, O’Neill and Langlois gave an introduction to pervious at a similar event for the architect group which went well, but lacked a significant number of projects in Connecticut that the team could point to as "in their backyard".

Fast forward to last week’s conference and there was a totally different atmosphere surrounding pervious concrete and the acceptance of it as a viable solution to stormwater management. The concrete industry pros were able to point to specific projects within Connecticut that were placed over the past two years and which many of the attendees were already familiar. The number of questions and comments raised during the presentation were very detailed and showed a level of understanding and acceptance that were absent a mere 24 months earlier, O'Neill said. The team was also given high marks for their presentation from the group of 85 landscape architects.

 

"It really proves just how effective the promotion effort in Connecticut has been when it comes to pervious. The designers understand it, have accepted it and are looking to use it more in the future," O’Neill said.