Synthetic Grass Studied as Conservation Alternative
TEMPE, Ariz. – After years of being ignored as a serious water conservation measure, synthetic grass is being studied alongside other landscaping options to determine its practicality in the battle to curb water use.
A long-term water conservation research project sponsored by the country’s third-largest public utility company has put synthetic grass side-by-side with natural local grasses and xeriscaping. The Salt River Project (SRP) is sponsoring the research as part of its ongoing efforts to help give consumers new and better information about water conservation alternatives.
After more than 1½ years of observing, testing and evaluating several plots of artificial grass, the SRP says it can give synthetic grass the thumbs up as a genuine water conservation alternative.
“I think it’s probably a good niche product for a lot of people,” said Marc Campbell, a water planning analyst with SRP and director of the research project.
“It seems durable. It hasn’t faded. It needs a little maintenance, but really next to none,” Campbell said. “You need to rake it from time to time to keep the blades looking full. And you need to hose it off to remove the dust that inevitably lands on it, with the winds and dust we get here.”
Several reputable companies make the types of artificial grass the SRP is using in its demonstration project. Among the nationally recognized companies are SynLawn, and NewGrass, Inc.
Campbell said the SRP had a few very basic questions it wanted answered about artificial grass that led to the research project.
“We wanted to know, how it would perform in our extreme summer heat?” Campbell said. “Would it fade? Exactly what kind of maintenance does it require?”
The decision to research artificial grass along with other landscaping options was a direct response to what SRP was hearing from consumers about what they liked – and didn’t like – when it came to changing the way they landscape their homes to save water and reduce energy consumption.
Campbell said an estimated 60 percent of residential use in the Valley – Phoenix and its surrounding cities – is used on outdoor landscaping and swimming pools.
“We did consumer focus groups, asking people about water conservation supplies, landscaping, conservation measures and possible new programs,” Campbell said. “We asked them what they’d like to know about grass options and about landscaping alternatives.”
“We learned that despite our efforts to push xeriscaping, there were a majority of people that just wanted to have a natural grass landscape,” Campbell said.
SRP said the agency’s surveys identified three primary reasons that homeowners in the greater Phoenix area that SPR serves want a yard landscaped with a lawn:
• They want it for their children to play on
• They prefer the look of a green lawn compared with the drier, more native look of xeriscaping
• They are from the Midwest or East Coast and are accustomed to having natural grass as a residential landscape
SRP also wanted to study synthetic grass as a conservation measure because it is gaining acceptance as a landscaping alternative in general, and an increasing number of cities are “starting to consider it a little more seriously” as well, Campbell said.
“Generally, people are looking at synthetic grass a little more seriously than they did a couple of years ago,” he said. “We want to give the general public and the cities here in the Valley the information they need to make their own decisions about whether to use it and if it’s right for them.”
Campbell has been keeping tabs on several plots of synthetic grass that the agency installed at a park in Tempe that SRP owns and maintains for use by its employees.
The downside to synthetic grass so far, when compared against natural grass, is that the surface of a synthetic lawn will get hotter under the sun than natural grass, Campbell said.
The good news, however, is that synthetic grass cooled off quickly underfoot and has never gotten so hot that it’s burned anyone’s feet, Campbell said.
“It cools down immediately in the shade,” Campbell said, “It doesn’t retain heat.”
On a 110-degree day in Tempe this summer, the surface of the synthetic turf grasses reached 155 degrees. That compared with 145 degrees for asphalt, 135 degrees for a xeriscaped plot and 98 degrees for natural grass.
“You couldn’t stand on that 145-degree asphalt without burning your feet, but the synthetic turf cooled down rapidly under the foot,” Campbell said.
Questions remain, however, before the SRP can accurately assess the total savings in energy consumption that a synthetic lawn could bring.
“For example, because of its increased surface heat, does it increase the cooling costs around a house?” Campbell asked. “Does it cause plants nearby to need more water because of its increase surface heat? Those are questions I haven’t been able to answer.”
TEMPE, Ariz. – After years of being ignored as a serious water conservation measure, synthetic grass is being studied alongside other landscaping options to determine its practicality in the battle to curb water use.
A long-term water conservation research project sponsored by the country’s third-largest public utility company has put synthetic grass side-by-side with natural local grasses and xeriscaping. The Salt River Project (SRP) is sponsoring the research as part of its ongoing efforts to help give consumers new and better information about water conservation alternatives.
After more than 1½ years of observing, testing and evaluating several plots of artificial grass, the SRP says it can give synthetic grass the thumbs up as a genuine water conservation alternative.
“I think it’s probably a good niche product for a lot of people,” said Marc Campbell, a water planning analyst with SRP and director of the research project.
“It seems durable. It hasn’t faded. It needs a little maintenance, but really next to none,” Campbell said. “You need to rake it from time to time to keep the blades looking full. And you need to hose it off to remove the dust that inevitably lands on it, with the winds and dust we get here.”
Several reputable companies make the types of artificial grass the SRP is using in its demonstration project. Among the nationally recognized companies are SynLawn, and NewGrass, Inc.
Campbell said the SRP had a few very basic questions it wanted answered about artificial grass that led to the research project.
“We wanted to know, how it would perform in our extreme summer heat?” Campbell said. “Would it fade? Exactly what kind of maintenance does it require?”
The decision to research artificial grass along with other landscaping options was a direct response to what SRP was hearing from consumers about what they liked – and didn’t like – when it came to changing the way they landscape their homes to save water and reduce energy consumption.
Campbell said an estimated 60 percent of residential use in the Valley – Phoenix and its surrounding cities – is used on outdoor landscaping and swimming pools.
“We did consumer focus groups, asking people about water conservation supplies, landscaping, conservation measures and possible new programs,” Campbell said. “We asked them what they’d like to know about grass options and about landscaping alternatives.”
“We learned that despite our efforts to push xeriscaping, there were a majority of people that just wanted to have a natural grass landscape,” Campbell said.
SRP said the agency’s surveys identified three primary reasons that homeowners in the greater Phoenix area that SPR serves want a yard landscaped with a lawn:
• They want it for their children to play on
• They prefer the look of a green lawn compared with the drier, more native look of xeriscaping
• They are from the Midwest or East Coast and are accustomed to having natural grass as a residential landscape
SRP also wanted to study synthetic grass as a conservation measure because it is gaining acceptance as a landscaping alternative in general, and an increasing number of cities are “starting to consider it a little more seriously” as well, Campbell said.
“Generally, people are looking at synthetic grass a little more seriously than they did a couple of years ago,” he said. “We want to give the general public and the cities here in the Valley the information they need to make their own decisions about whether to use it and if it’s right for them.”
Campbell has been keeping tabs on several plots of synthetic grass that the agency installed at a park in Tempe that SRP owns and maintains for use by its employees.
The downside to synthetic grass so far, when compared against natural grass, is that the surface of a synthetic lawn will get hotter under the sun than natural grass, Campbell said.
The good news, however, is that synthetic grass cooled off quickly underfoot and has never gotten so hot that it’s burned anyone’s feet, Campbell said.
“It cools down immediately in the shade,” Campbell said, “It doesn’t retain heat.”
On a 110-degree day in Tempe this summer, the surface of the synthetic turf grasses reached 155 degrees. That compared with 145 degrees for asphalt, 135 degrees for a xeriscaped plot and 98 degrees for natural grass.
“You couldn’t stand on that 145-degree asphalt without burning your feet, but the synthetic turf cooled down rapidly under the foot,” Campbell said.
Questions remain, however, before the SRP can accurately assess the total savings in energy consumption that a synthetic lawn could bring.
“For example, because of its increased surface heat, does it increase the cooling costs around a house?” Campbell asked. “Does it cause plants nearby to need more water because of its increase surface heat? Those are questions I haven’t been able to answer.”
posted by Trevor at 12:00 PM
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