Going green is a gradual process. It often involves waiting until existing materials wear out and then replacing them with eco-friendly variations. Latest: your company’s parking lot.

And, it may be a good idea to check in with EPA before you repave. You could earn some green credits and reduce stormwater compliance headaches if you go green with pavement materials.

How? By using porous pavement — pervious cement or porous asphalt. Either technology offers you a green upgrade, and the porous materials won’t cost you any extra.

EPA encourages companies to consider using pervious cement or porous asphalt as a best management practice to control stormwater runoff from your site.

Both technologies are favored by EPA because they allow the rainwater to percolate through the pavement and into the ground, where it’s filtered naturally before reaching groundwater. By percolating through the soil, oil and grease, nutrients and other pollutants are removed naturally.

This lets a facility reduce its stormwater monitoring obligations that go along with using impervious surfaces, which just flush stormwater runoff into drains and gutters and dump the flow directly into a storm sewer or lake, creek or river. EPA’s Web site is here.

There are limitations to pervious pavements. They can’t be used for highways because they’re softer than normal asphalt and concrete. However, they are good applications for low-traffic situations.

Use of porous pavements also earns green building credits under EPA’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program.

The trick is getting used to these technologies. Three one-day seminars are sponsored this summer by the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association and the Portland Cement Association. More details on the pervious concrete seminars are here.

To research the benefits and applications of pervious cement, visit www.pervious pavement.org.

Tags: green buildings, LEED, pervious pavement, porous cement, runoff, stormwater