Updates from the ICPI midyear meeting

The Interlocking Concrete Paver Institute (ICPI), held its summer meeting last week in Lake Tahoe. The meeting addressed a variety of topics pertaining to our industry. Below is a brief summary of the meeting’s key points.

ICPI is increasingly focused on trying to support member efforts in selling more concrete pavers for commercial applications. It is reasoned that member companies do a good job in marketing to homeowners, but they lack some of the resources or tools to impact commercial markets. The organization has an overall objective to increase the annual sales of concrete pavers in North America from around two sq ft per capita to four. In comparison, many European countries sell in excess of fifteen sq ft per capita.

Some of the key new initiatives to help members sell more pavers include the following:

· Expanded training programs for installers - The association will be offering two new training programs for paver installers in 2010. The first will be an advanced installer class that builds upon the original Certified Installer Program of which over 18,000 people have attended. This class will deal with greater technical aspects of paver installations and be available to those who have completed the basic installer certification. The other new training program will be a permeable interlocking concrete paver (PICP) installation class. Permeable pavers are identified as a potential growing market given their effective role as a component of stormwater systems. Permeable pavers can lessen the negative impact of development by reducing the flow of stormwater that would be generated in traditional paving systems. Both classes will be two days and will be taught by experienced concrete paver installers.

· New PICP Permeable Design Pro software - Developed through the efforts of the ICPI technical committee, this new software assists pavement designers in designing the right permeable pavement system given soil conditions, expected stormwater, and the use of other stormwater management technologies. Over 3,000 copies have been sold to date.

· The association has also initiated an effort to develop a national standard for the structural design of interlocking concrete pavements by the American Society of Civil Engineers group (ASCE).

· ICPI Foundation funds new curriculum for landscape architecture students -During the meeting the ICPI Foundation Trustees approved funding for the University of Georgia to create a web-based curriculum addressing the use, design, and construction of interlocking concrete pavers. The curriculum will also include permeable interlocking concrete pavers and their application to stormwater management. The web-based program is expected to be available to universities teaching landscape architecture across North America.

The next meeting of ICPI will be in February of 2010 in San Antonio in conjunction with NCMA meetings and the concrete show ICON. For more information about ICPI go to http://www.ICPI.org.

Sincerely,

Joe Bowen
President

The Summer of PICP

Summer has finally arrived. As if automatically signaled by the change of weather, our thoughts seem to involuntarily turn to the outdoors. We look forward to vacations, baseball games, picnics, weekends at the lake, gardening and neighborhood barbeques. We get introduced to our neighbors once again, chatting over the backyard fence while flipping burgers on the grill and impressing each other with ideas on how to keep lawns green and time-tested keys to successful childrearing. Maybe we boldly add our solution to the latest political controversy. However, since my neighbors’ yards are in much better shape than mine, and their children are so polite and well-behaved, it’s not easy for me to find a subject that I can use to really wow them.

Here’s one that I’m going to try this weekend, low impact development and permeable interlocking concrete pavement! Initially, that may sound a little too technical for a casual conversation, but I plan to add intrigue by using only the acronyms, LID and PICP. There’s nothing like a strategically placed acronym in casual conversation to hint at one’s superior understanding and intellect.

While watering the flower bed, I’ll casually start out something like this:

“Say, neighbor! What do you think about using PICP as a key component of an effective LID strategy?”

With an opening line like that, my neighbor would be speechless. I may give him additional hints of my keen insight into the subject by adding:

“Of course you know that PICP’s can help manage stormwater runoff by allowing direct infiltration, and they can work with other LID tools like rain gardens and bio-swales to minimize post-development impact.”

He’d really get envious with this:

“Yeah, I’ve actually been thinking of adding a PICP patio instead of just creating more impervious surface that will add to stormwater runoff. Besides, studies show that PICP systems can actually help improve water quality, too!”

Since he’s still speechless, I go for the home-run:

“My PICP patio will use Mutual Materials’ new Eco-Priora 4 x 8 and 8 x 8 permeable interlocking concrete pavers (oops, should have said PICP’s again) in a random pattern that will drain over 100 inches per hour of stormwater runoff, not that we’d ever need that much capacity. The smaller 3/8” joint spacing makes Eco-Priora the perfect paver for walking surfaces like plazas and patios, and the patented structural spacer system allows them to be successfully used in parking lots and even streets. And, the lighter natural gray cement color can give my patio a LEED point, too”

LEED, that’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design from the USGBC (United States Green Building Council). I can see the impressed look on my neighbor’s face already. There’s nothing like well-placed acronyms in casual conversation.



For more information on LID, go to:
http://www.lowimpactdevelopment.org/

For more information on Mutual Materials’ Eco-Priora PICP, go to: http://www.mutualmaterials.com/Professional_product.asp?pt_id=126&p_id=363


Sincerely,

Rick Crooks
Director of Business Development