The Springs Preserve, located west of “The Strip” in Las Vegas, Nevada, is a 180 acre facility with approximately $250 million of new construction completed over the past five years. Roads and trails constructed with SSPCO’s green product technologies, NaturalPAVE XL® Resin Pavement™ and EMC SQUARED® Stabilizer for base course and subgrade stabilization, highlight this green building project. The Springs Preserve is considered to be the birthplace of the City of Las Vegas. It was once the site of a lush oasis and meadow, the result of erupting underground springs. These springs are now dry, but are of great historical significance and contain evidence of human habitation dating back approximately 10,000 years. In addition to a building for a new Nevada State Museum that is just going into construction, the Springs Preserve has a visitor center focused on the fascinating cultural history of the Las Vegas Valley and the possibilities for its future. Facilities at the Springs Preserve also include a desert learning center focused on sustainable living, a large amphitheater for outdoor concerts and events, meeting facilities and event spaces, botanical gardens featuring Mojave desert vegetation, wetlands, picnic shelters and miles of NaturalPAVE XL Resin Pavement installations, which include a trail outside the fenced Springs Preserve area and all the interior access roads for vehicular and truck traffic.

The Springs Preserve buildings and site plan feature green building techniques intended to raise awareness of the newest breakthroughs in sustainable design. The buildings are designed to achieve Platinum Status from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. The NaturalPAVE XL Resin Pavement installations meet all pavement engineering requirements and utilize aggregate materials closely matched to the coloration of the native desert soils and caliche rock at the Springs Preserve site.

The non-toxic pavement formulations complement water quality protection measures, and the high albedo surfaces qualify as cool pavements, being both solar reflective and more thermally resistant than concrete. In Las Vegas where summertime temperatures can reach very hot 125° Fahrenheit temperatures, solar reflective thermally resistant pavements are a responsible alternative to heat absorbent black asphalt, which contributes to Urban Heat Island problems, increased smog formation, greenhouse gas emission and global warming. Cool pavements around buildings reduce air-conditioning and energy demand. They also just make common sense when it comes to comfort and human health in our living and working environments.