Cleveland Clinic has pledged to investigate creative solutions to environmental challenges that benefit the community and support economic health. As a result of this commitment, the clinic worked closely with environmental regulatory agencies on the development of the Richard E. Jacobs Avon Health Campus in Ohio.
With nearby U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-protected wetlands and an already restricted site, it was a challenge to meet the project’s storm water management requirements. A number of design options, such as a parking garage to minimize the parking area footprint, bioswales, permeable pavement and underground detention systems, were considered. It was decided that a permeable interlocking concrete paver system would provide the most effective storm water management for the site at a lower initial cost than some of the other options.
Cawrse & Associates Inc., landscape architect for the project, had prior experience with Eco-Optiloc permeable pavers, produced by UNI-Group U.S.A. manufacturer Unilock Ohio Inc. of Rittman, Ohio. The firm had installed the pavers in its office parking lot eight years prior and recommended the product for the parking lots, drive lanes and connector roads for the project.
The pavers are durable and stand up to a variety of traffic conditions, and the system was competitively priced. Cawrse & Associates was able to demonstrate that it could use the pavement to minimize the site’s environmental impact, while accommodating its parking requirements.
The 345,000-sq-ft Eco-Optiloc permeable paver parking lot was constructed in five phases to maintain approximately 900 usable parking spaces at all times. The Cleveland Clinic Avon Hospital plans to accept its first patients in the fall of 2016.
