This article was originally published as "Smart Park" in the March/April issue of USGBC+. Read the original version.
Boston has almost 7.5 million square feet of designated, off-street parking space. Wide swaths of concrete, asphalt and steel, often spattered with oil from vehicles and salt from roadways. The parking facilities in this East Coast city—and across the country—have long been an egregious land-hog. But that is changing.
Parksmart, formerly Green Garage Certification, is a relatively new addition to the suite of sustainability rating systems administered by GBCI and was developed with the support of the International Parking Institute. Parking facilities are rated on the basis of sustainable practices in management, programming, and technological design. As a result, parking structures now have an opportunity to show communities how they can be more environmentally friendly, by finding innovative ways to reduce energy consumption, maximize performance, and minimize waste.