The term Green Structure is borrowed from the European planning model that links the natural "green" qualities of the environment with the organizing human "structure" of an urban or landscape design. The use of this concept can be applied to both urban and natural environments.  The green structure is a mechanism to control or maintain the natural environment when intervention or urbanization has caused an imbalance. Portion of Harfmann/Day publication 

Although concrete pavers can be more expensive initially than asphalt or reinforced concrete, it is important to consider the cost relative to the life cycle of the pavement as well. The initial costs for materials and installation and the life cycle costs are considered direct costs and are easily quantifiable. There are however, external costs that are not as easily quantifiable but must be considered when determining pavement options. These costs include environmental impact, road user costs during repairs, integration of other requirements, redesign, pavement rehabilitation and aesthetics. The segmental and precast nature of the concrete paving units capitalize on several of these aspects while reducing lifecycle costs.
Portion of Harfmann/Day publication - Other advantages include: Design Variety, Safety, Zip and Unzip, and Environmental Impact. 

The indivual units of interlocking concrete pavements support the concept of a "zipper" which can be undone and then redone in a simple manner. Since the pavers are interlocked and not permanently attached to one another, it is possible to remove several individual units and simply replace them once a repair is made. The final result is undetectable and inexpensive. It is an immediate response to the need to gain access to the surface below or for the repair of damaged areas of the surface. 
Portion of Harfmann/Day publication - Other advantages include: Design Variety, Safety, Environmental Impact, and Cost. 

The surface provided by precast concrete pavers is a naturally safe surface for both vehicular and pedestrian traffic usage. The variety in pattern and color can also define different zones of use that might separate vehicular traffic from pedestrian traffic.
Portion of Harfmann/Day publication - Other advantages include: Design Variety, Zip and Unzip, Environmental Impact, and Cost. 

The variety in shape, size and color of segemental precast concrete pavers results in many design opportunities. The units by default result in a visually stimulating surface that can vary in scale, colors, patterns and can be combined in various ways in order to emphasize or mark certain aspects of a design.
Portion of Harfmann/Day publication - Other advantages include: Environmental Impact, Safety, Zip and Unzip, and Cost. 

The non-monolithic surface of precast concrete pavers allows them to minimize the impact on the local environment. Where a paved surface is necessary, the segmental pavers can be integrated with the functions of the earth and environmental conditions thereby reducing the overall impact that a monolithic surface might impose.
Portion of Harfmann/Day publication - Other advantages include: Design Variety, Safety, Zip and Unzip, and Cost. 

Discover the competitive advantages of concrete pavers over other hardscape materials.  These advantages include: Design Variety, Environmental Impact, Safety, Zip and Unzip, and Cost.  See the full writeup by clicking Read More or select any of the linked words above to download the associated pdfs.
Portion of Harfmann/Day publication

The foreman of a installation project is in charge of measuring and documenting productivity for the various job functions. In the end of a job the number of hours documented by the foreman are compared to the estimate that was given in the initial job bid. If the number of hours it took to complete the job exceeds the estimate then the job lost money, or was at least not as profitable. It is important for the job foreman to identify steps that can be taken in order to avoid hours that exceed the estimate.

Paver stones may need to be removed and replaced for a variety of reasons. Some pavers may start to sag and proper grade adjustments may need to be made, access to graded utilities may be a concern, or the paver itself may no longer be aesthetically pleasing due to chipping of the material or damage in some way. This clip will show you how to properly remove and replace a damaged paver.

The following video, brought to you by Woodie’s DIY, will show you the necessary equipment and steps it takes in order to seal interlocking pavers in a small area. Applying a sealer to pavers will not only improve their appearance but also protect the material from weather damage.

This short video discusses current stormwater management practices and shows how PICP can be used as part of an effective sustainable, low impact development response to today's precipitation and stormwater management problem.

The following is an instructional video that introduces the installation of the ThermaPAVER (Therma-Hexx), a solar paver, ground mount system. ThermaPAVER is the invisible solar collector, that can be used to absorb instead of reflect solar energy. ThermaPAVER can be used to solar hot water, as a means of an efficient snowmelt system and a way to cool interlocking concrete pavers.

When compared to runoff from an adjoining asphalt lot, permeable pavement exfiltrate contains significantly lower concentrations of phosphorous and zinc, as well as reductions in total nitrogen, and thus provides for better water quality. To further test various permeable pavement designs, a parking lot consisting of four different types of permeable pavements and standard asphalt was constructed in Kinston, NC. The attached PDF evaluates this case study and the water quality improvement as a result of PICP.

The following installation video shows how to use Pave Edge, the original paver edge restraint from Pave Tech, to hold pavers in place. The Pave Edge can easily be hidden using sod or a mulch on the top of the material after it has been installed.

The following is a short clip that shows how to obtain a curve when laying pavers. One must first overlay the field edge, mark a desired curve using a flexible pipe and pen, and lastly cut the pavers using a saw blade.

This lesson introduces and then tests the viewer on the variables that must be considered when using segmental pavements to support pedestrian and vehicular loads on municipal streets. According to the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), the following four variables are critical to consider:

An ESAL is a standard unit that is used to measure the amount of damage vehicles inflict on a surface. 1 ESAL = the impact from a single 18,000-lb axle load. The damage to a pavement caused by one pass of a large tractor-trailer in exponentially greater than that caused by a two door sedan.

It takes roughly 20,000 passes of the sedan to cause the same amount of same amount of damage as one pass of a tractor-trailer. In these scenarios, the design ESALs will be predetermined. This is usually based on the expected traffic mix. Reference ASCE and ICPI Tech Spec 4 to calculate the appropriate ESAL rating to a design.

Aggregate bases stabilized with asphalt or cement are recommended under very heavy loads, and over weak or saturated soil subgrades. These are sometimes used when adequate aggregates are not available or when a stabilized base is more economical than unstabilized aggregate. Poor subgrade should be avoided if possible, but when it is necessary to build over weak soils there are several methods available to improve subgrade performance.

Soil characteristics play a major factor in the design of pavements. It is important to accurately assess the type of soil on a site. Soils are classified by the Unified Soils Classification method  (ASTM D2487, 2006a). Soils that have a course grain and good drainage are generally stronger than fine grained soils with poor drainage. For example a gravel soil with good drainage is significantly stronger than a clay soil with poor drainage.

Remember that when choosing a paver it is always important to consider the surrounding environment. Pavers that are a few shades lighter than any building or house on the property won't compete for attention. Brick-colored pavers add a warmth to wood or stone buildings, and gray-toned pavers are often paired with brick buildings to minimize over matching. Monotony of color can be broken up by using a blended-paver or combining two types of pavers. Whatever design effect is desired it can potentially  be achieved through the use of paver color.

Dimensional tolerances are important on a paver’s structural efficiency. Rectangular and shaped blocks need to be designed to include their surrounding space; and their length to width ratio depends upon the final laying pattern. To optimize the block surfacing structural efficiency then every block must be specified and controlled within strict tolerances.