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Geary emphasizes that pervious concrete has its place, and you can avoid clogging through routine sweeping and proper planning in the landscape areas. He says you want to avoid runoff from the landscape areas running directly onto the pervious as this could bring silt and other debris onto the surface and cause clogging.

Working with LEED
As head of the concrete division at Tri-North, Geary works closely with the company's LEED-accredited (LEED AP) team member, project manager Holly Hawkins. Hawkins oversees LEED projects in regards to planning what areas of a project can earn points toward LEED certification, and making sure those projects are monitored and recorded for the paperwork process required by the U.S. Green Building Council, the LEED governing body. The headquarters project was the first certification project for Tri-North, and Hawkins is currently overseeing two other projects that are planned for certification. She says for a concrete contractor it's not as important to have the LEED AP designation as it is to know about the process and how it relates to concrete.

"What's valuable for people working on a LEED project is the knowledge you gain in workshops. That's where you're going to learn the tricks of the trade," Hawkins says. The USGBC offers courses on green building and LEED certification throughout the country and online.

Hawkins says as a concrete subcontractor it's important to know what to track and how to supply the paperwork for a green project, but it's not necessary to have LEED accreditation since someone working with the general contractor, usually on the design team, will have a LEED AP designation and can submit the paperwork to USGBC for certification. She adds, "As a subcontractor you want to be involved in a LEED project early to ensure proper bidding. For example, when you start using mixes with high supplementation of fly ash and blast slag, the slabs finish slower so you might need to know about any extra time or overtime you need over a traditional slab."