Just in Time for Summer, NewGrass to Offer Cooler Synthetic Grass
May 6, 2013
With the heat of summer just around the corner, we’re sure to again hear one of the annual arguments against artificial grass: that it tends to get hotter than natural turf under hot sun.
While that’s true, as NewGrass® has reported before, it’s also true that synthetic grass blades cool down very rapidly when the lawn is covered, put under shade, or watered even a little. One study, Evaluation of the Environmental Effects of Synthetic Turf, in fact found that, “rapid cooling of the fibers was noted if the sunlight was interrupted or filtered by clouds. Significant cooling was also noted if water was applied to the synthetic fibers in quantities as low as one ounce per square foot.”
It’s also true that synthetic grasses installed with eco-friendly infill become less hot on average compared with artificial lawns installed with traditional crumb-rubber infill. The Penn State Center for Sports Surface Research reported those findings last year in its Synthetic Turf Heat Evaluation Progress Report.
To bring even greater comfort to homeowners and others considering artificial grass, NewGrass is unveiling a new variety made with a special blend of yarns that are guaranteed to be less hot under the summer sun.
“When combined with an eco-friendly infill rather than traditional crumb rubber, NewGrass Supreme with Cool Blades, our latest NewGrass® variety, will reduce surface heat by as much as 30 percent,” said NewGrass President Gregory Goehner.
NewGrass Supreme with Cool Blades will have blades woven with Coolgrass®, manufactured by the Bonar Yarns in Abu Dhabi.
“Coolgrass® has been a proven synthetic yarn manufacturer for years and has been in use in landscaping ranging from playgrounds to backyards,” Goehner said. “We’re thrilled to be a provider of this technology in the United States, Canada and Mexico to offer this unique combination of materials to provide a lawn that is durable, natural-feeling, safe, and less prone to summer heat.”
Just as with NewGrass®, Bonar’s landscape yarns:
- Resemble the look and feel of natural grass
- Don’t need watering, weeding, or fertilizing
- Are skin-friendly and UV stable
- Require extremely low maintenance to remove debris and keep the blades lifted
The advantages of NewGrass Supreme with Cool Blades are even greater when installed with the environmentally safe infills that NewGrass recommends. These include ZeoFill and Sole Revolution from Nike, and infill created from 100-percent Nike Grind Rubber (more environmentally friendly than traditional crumb rubber, which is made from used tires).
The debate over the safety of crumb rubber is being waged among environmental groups, concerned-parent organizations, the rubber industry and some members of the synthetic grass industry. But some cities – and NewGrass – argue that caution is the best path and advocate for the use of alternative infills.
“The combination of a summer-friendly yarn and a safe, cooler infill is a definite winning combination all the way around,” Goehner said.
No CommentsFebruary 27, 2013
Ask someone to tell you what comes to mind when you say the word “lawn” and they’re likely to tell you how they rolled and played on the backyard grass as a kid, or how they laid on their backs on the sprawling front yard grass in the summer and looked up at the stars.
NewGrass® synthetic lawn is perfect for anyone who wants a lush yard to continue both of those traditions. But NewGrass®, the artificial grass of choice when being environmentally friendly is as important as having a water-conserving, green lawn all year, is also a wonderful complement to myriad small spaces and tighter areas that you might not normally think would be a place for a grassy respite.
NewGrass®, for example, has been used as part of international PARK(ing) Day, an annual worldwide event in which artists, designers and neighbors transform metered parking spots into temporary public parks.
“It’s incredibly gratifying to see the temporary use of NewGrass® in PARKING(ing) Day projects that create new forms of small, almost micro-size, public spaces in urban areas,” said Gregory Goehner, president of NewGrass®. “It also speaks volumes to how easy it is to install and apply NewGrass® in any setting — and equally easy to remove it if you need to.”
NewGrass® has long been the choice of businesses and homeowners who have sought a safe and clean grassy area in small spaces or in areas where natural turf is difficult to grow or maintain: dog runs, narrow side yards, under heavy shade trees, small play areas that get a lot of use.
But, as the PARK(ing) Day transformations show, NewGrass® also continues to gain traction for uses that may be less obvious, but are equally practical and life-enhancing.
NewGrass® continues to be a found underfoot in small spaces in New York City. NewGrass® provided a grassy micro-park during a get-together in Brooklyn for members of airBNB, the online community marketplace for travel accommodations. The event was hosted at Root [Brooklyn], a huge space near the Williamsburg Bridge designed for events and photo and video shoots.
“Again, NewGrass® was the choice for New Yorkers who wanted temporary green space in an urban setting,” Goehner said.
Previously, NewGrass® was the ground cover of Park Here, a 0.1-acre temporary indoor pop-up park in the Nolita neighborhood of Manhattan, north of Little Italy and Chinatown. It has also landscaped balcony terraces of the ultra-modern Trump Place. In Atlanta, the producers of the TV show Movie and a Makeover replicated a backyard patio complete with lawn on an Atlanta rooftop using NewGrass®.
“NewGrass® is a great choice for a rooftop terrace, because even when it’s wet, after a rain or snowfall, a NewGrass® installation won’t overload a building with standard weight-being limitations,” Goehner said.
