Concrete Pavers and Sustainability

Mitigate Urban Heat Island Effect with Light Color Pavements

Light Color Pavers and Sustainability

For hardscape owners and designers color is a very important consideration for aesthetics and function, but heres another factor: color can also impact sustainability. Choosing lighter colors can help mitigate the urban heat island effect. 

Urban Heat Islands

Heat islands can result in cities when built structures and paved surfaces radiate energy from the sun to a greater extend than farmland or natural areas. In this way, cities create their own microclimates that can be up to 7° F (4° C) warmer than the surroundings.

Some examples of how heat islands negatively impact our environment include  more air conditioning  use, increased air pollution and green house gas emissions from power plants meeting air conditioning energy demands, and lower human health and wellbeing from excessive heat.  

 Landscape architects can play a role in cooling cities by specifying increased tree and vegetation cover, adding living or green roofs to structures, and selecting light color surfaces also known as cool pavements. 

Research was done in New York City which found that planting trees and vegetation would be greatly beneficial to cool surfaces. However, they encountered a common urban problem - in many New York City neighborhoods there is no space.

Many large cities just don’t have the space required to plant enough new trees and greenery for an effective heat island reduction strategy. 

Therefore, the most attainable approach is often to redevelop the large areas of dark, paved surfaces with lighter surface materials. 

LEED® Credits for Heat Island Reduction

Heat Island Reduction - Non-Roof: LEED v4.1

LEED points can be awarded for paving materials with an initial solar reflectance (SR) value of at least 0.33. 

https://www.usgbc.org/credits/new-construction-core-and-shell-schools-new-construction-retail-new-construction-data-cent-5

Solar Reflectance Index (SRI)

The Solar Reflectance Index (SRI) is a criterion used by US Green Building Council (USGBC)  that measures values of sunlight and radiation bouncing from built surfaces.

SRI is used to indicate how hot a material is likely to become when its surface comes into contact with solar radiation. On a scale of 0 to 100, standard black is 0, and standard white is 100. According to this scale, testing indicates that absorbent materials have lower numbers while reflective materials have higher numbers. 

Applying this to the hardscape environment, it follows that dark pavements have low SRI values, whereas light pavements typically have higher SRI values. 

In other words, light colored surfaces absorb less heat and make the immediate area more comfortable – think playgrounds or pools where bathers have bare feet. Lighter surfaces also reduce the need for nighttime lighting and make areas safer.

Combining light colors with permeable pavers can provide even more cooling benefits because permeable interlocking concrete pavers (PICP) are designed and constructed to lower surface temperatures through evaporative cooling as well. The Interlocking Concrete Paver Institute (ICPI) has many useful resources for designers at www.icpi.org.

Light Color Paver Protection

New surface treatments from ACM Chemistries protect paver surfaces from fading and stains. Lighter colors no longer have to appear washed out or marred by food or dirt stains. Colors and patterns stay vibrant and stains and dirt can be easily removed. 

For more information on surface treatments, check out https://www.acmchem.com/dry-cast-paver-surface-treatments/

Resources

Interlocking Concrete Paver Institute (ICPI) 

https://icpi.org/benefits-fact-sheets

US EPA

https://www.epa.gov/heatislands/learn-about-heat-islands

https://www.epa.gov/heatislands/heat-island-compendium

Face Mix and Thru-Mix Concrete Pavers

One of the more recent developments in dry cast or zero slump concrete paver production is “face mix”. The difference between face mix and conventional thru-mix pavers is that thru-mix paver mix design and color is the same throughout, whereas with face mix pavers there is a pigmented surface layer with a finer aggregate blend. Face mix pavers concentrate expensive pigment, white cement and finer aggregate in a surface layer where they have the most impact. The base contains larger aggregates for higher compressive and flexural strength, and improved durability. This method is well established in the US and has been used in Europe for decades.

Face mix pavers are also well suited for inline surface treatments to enhance color and resistance to stains. See https://www.acmchem.com/dry-cast-paver-surface-treatments/ for more information on our factory applied inline surface treatment systems.

In the picture we see examples of face mix pavers with concentrated color on the surface layer.

Face Mix Analogy

How are Dry Cast Concrete Pavers Made? 

Most traditional dry cast or zero slump pavers will follow the steps below. Bear in mind that producers are coming up with new and interesting production methods and paver finishes every day!

  1. Mixing raw materials until a homogenous mix is obtained
  2. Feeding mix into a mold
  3. Compression into mold
  4. Inline surface treatment (if applicable)
  5. Curing 
  6. Packaging 

Dry cast or zero slump concrete holds its shape immediately after a mold is removed, similar to packing sea sand into a bucket (mold) to make a sand castle on your beach vacation. 

In dry cast concrete production the raw materials are fed into a mixer which combines them until the mix is homogenous. The mixing is important to get the cementitious materials and water in contact so that a chemical reaction called cement hydration can occur. During the hydration reaction, cement and water interact to form cement paste which hardens and becomes the “glue” that holds the aggregates together.

Dry cast paver production is a highly automated process. The business model of dry cast manufactured concrete products depends on highly efficient, mass production of concrete units that are also efficient to install: at a minimum concrete paver units must be sufficiently strong, dimensionally correct and dimensionally stable when they are installed.

Large, sophisticated plants can cost millions of dollars with new options for molds and finishes becoming available every year.

Dry cast concrete units are mixed and molded into shape in minutes. The freshly compacted units are able to hold their shape immediately after mold is removed including during transportation to the curing station, which is often a kiln. A kiln is a controlled environment where temperature and humidity are optimized to maximize cement hydration, strength gain and color development by the concrete. Dry cast concrete must be cured, usually for at least a few days, so that it can gain sufficient strength to withstand handling, installation, traffic loads and weathering over time.

Inline surface treatments are spray applied to the paver surface before the units are cured, and are bonded to the paver surface during curing. Inline treatments are used to enrich color and protect paver surfaces from staining and fading.

For comparison purposes, see the dry cast vs wet cast production and output summaries below:

Dry Cast vs. Wet Cast

To find out more about the benefits of interlocking concrete pavers from ICPI, click https://icpi.org/benefits-fact-sheets

Example of dry cast step units and segmental retaining wall

Example of wet cast step units and segmental retaining wall

Concrete Pavers - a Brief Explainer 

Concrete pavers are made out of … concrete. Sounds obvious, but there are actually at least two different types of concrete used to make pavers and slabs – dry cast (zero slump) and wet cast concrete. Dry cast concrete is the most common, so lets deal with that first.

How does cement work?

Dry Cast Concrete paver proportions:

Introduction to Dry Cast Concrete Pavers

We tend to think of public transportation as a modern invention – but the Romans used segmented paving stones for public highways that sped troops, trade goods, tax collectors and administrators that ran and funded the empire.

Roman roads were paved with locally available stone materials, but the Romans knew and applied sound, common engineering practices:

Today, 2500 years later, we still follow the same principles.

In modern times, concrete pavers took off as a building material in Europe after World War II.

Rebuilding efforts after World War II faced major shortages of building materials. German and Dutch road designers and contractors were forced to find replacements for clay brick which was needed for houses They developed cost effective, uniform size concrete-based pavers made from readily available materials. The new concrete pavers were tolerant of unstable sub-base and traffic loads, and could be installed by relatively unskilled labor.

Pavers accommodate cars, bicycles, pedestrians and trees! Amsterdam, NL

Number of paver sq. ft. per person

Today, Germany is still the recognized leader in the paver market with over 1 billion sq.ft of pavers installed per year.

Why does efflorescence happen, and how can I minimize it?

What is efflorescence?

Efflorescence in masonry units is usually observed as a white deposit on the surface that can present as a slight haze all the way through to a crusty layer. Efflorescence is not a structural problem for the concrete, it does not affect strength or durability. But it is unsightly, and lowers the perceived value of the concrete. 

Efflorescence is usually composed of salts that are deposited on a concrete surface. It is the result of chemical reactions where calcium hydroxide (free lime salts) particles dissolve into water contained within voids  in the concrete matrix. Over time the water and dissolved lime salts migrate back to the concrete surface where the solution reacts with carbon dioxide in the air to form calcium carbonate. The water evaporates leaving the calcium carbonate residue on the surface as efflorescence.

It’s worth noting that any concrete product that contains cement will produce calcium hydroxide as a  by product of the cement hydration reaction. 

The four factors  

  1. Source of soluble salts - Portland Cement
  2. Sufficient water to dissolve the salts
  3. Path for the salt solution to migrate to the surface
  4. Driving force to move the salt solution through the pathway

 1. Source of soluble salts

Most efflorescence is due to calcium hydroxide or lime that is always present in hydrated cement based products. When water is added to Portland cement it hydrates and forms a calcium silicate hydrate (CSH) or “good” gel that is the glue that holds concrete together. Unfortunately the reaction is not very efficient and a by product of calcium hydroxide “bad” gel is also formed. Calcium hydroxide is soluble in water and may dissolve into water that is contained in voids in the concrete matrix.

Efflorescence can also result from other soluble salts, called alkalis, found in the aggregates.

2. Sufficient water to dissolve the salts

It is very important for concrete strength and durability that there is sufficient water available during mixing to hydrate the cement particles properly. Therefore, maximizing water during production is highly desirable. Adding as much water as possible short of pulling, picking or slumping during production will lead to products with higher strength and lower absorption. 

The concern over excessive water that will dissolve the salts comes into play once the concrete products reach the curing stage - in the kiln or out in the yard.

Units that are exposed to repeated cycles of wetting and drying in the yard, such as during a wet spring or fall, or after they have been installed, for example through landscaping irrigation, may also develop efflorescence.

3. Pathways for salt migration

All concrete products have a network of interconnected voidsConnected voids serve as pathways for moisture migration into and out of the concrete unit. Voids can be minimized but not eliminated, even if you have the best mix design, materials, equipment and compaction possible. Because there are always voids, there will always be pathways for salt solutions to migrate to the surface. 

These pathways can be reduced by making the concrete more dense, and thus less able to absorb water.  ASTM C936 Standards for quality manufactured concrete products specify 5% maximum water absorption.  Producers can reduce absorption by optimizing concrete mix designs, including aggregate grading and shape so aggregates will pack together better, and using as much water during production as possible to help lubricate the mix and hydrate the cement. On the machine side, it is important to feed and fill molds properly to achieve a dense concrete matrix. 

4. Driving forces to move the salt solution

When two things occur in different conditions (for example one hot and one cold) the environment will try to find balance between the two situations and will react to reach the middle. This reaction is the driving force that causes the salt solution to move to the surface of the concrete. During curing and storage of concrete units, many common practices can cause a driving force to occur. These can include exposing units to differences in humidity and temperature between the units and their environment, such as might occur in kilns with very high humidity, or when units are moved from a heated kiln environment to a cold yard without allow the units time for their internal temperature to lower and match that of the outside environment, 

What does this mean to me?