FirstBank Southwest Amarillo
Overview
- Category: Commercial/Industrial
- Organization Location: Amarillo, Texas
- Activity: Collection of rainwater through permeable pavers into underground storage.
Background
When a new building for First Southwest Bank in Amarillo was being designed in 2012, bank officials and landscape architects agreed that they could do more to conserve water beyond xeriscaping. As part of the site development, an alternative rainwater collection system was envisioned. Rather than collecting rainwater from the roof and storing it in a tank, the bank’s collection system was the lot itself, lessening the stormwater runoff and the water used for landscaping. Rain falls upon the building’s metal roof and downspouts channel water to the parking lot, which consists of permeable pavers. After the water flows through the permeable pavers, it flows through gravel backfill into perforated pipe and then into an underground ‘milk-crate’ tank. The pavers and underground tank have a capacity of 26,600 gallons, which can be used to water the xeric landscape.