Preservation of the beauty of our region is central to all our residential and commercial landscaping. There’s no doubt that our natural surroundings are magnificent, but spreading asphalt over large areas creates heat islands that are better avoided, overloads the sewers with rainwater and dries the earth.

The Quebec standards office has published a guide for the planning and design of parking areas; it suggests specific ways to avoid creating these heat islands. Among these, we find the following recommendations:

1) reduce the surface area reserved for parking;
2) recover rainwater;
3) use vegetation in the parking areas;
4) use materials having a high solar reflective index (SRI) or with high permeability;
5) create zones where rainwater can collect.

To carry out the last suggestion, set up planted areas where the soil level is lower than the surface of the parking area, so that water runs into them. When there’s a lot of rain, these lower areas will collect the water and thus avoid overfilling the sewers and reduce the risks of polluting our lakes and rivers. The planted zones provide a natural appearance as well as modifying the air temperature. In them, plant resistant species which like water, such as some grasses, plants with thick leaves (e.g. irises), or shrubs (sweet gale, or alders).

Water from eaves troughs can also be stored in an underground or above-ground tank and used for watering. There is also the option of selecting permeable paving that allows water irrigation, or – a more economical solution – using paving with holes that allow greenery to grown through. And don’t forget to use moderate lighting that doesn’t cause light pollution.