In the future, there will be parking lots…but not as we know them today. Parking lots will be fundamentally transformed by a Second Electrical Revolution, a Green Infrastructure Revolution, and the rapid shift of mass consciousness to an eco-friendly Spaceship Earth Paradigm.

When it comes to sustainable parking, how we park is just as important as the technologies we use. After all, the greenest parking space is the one we don’t have to build.

Practices that encourage more efficient use of existing space or that reduce demand for parking are each important elements of a green garage. Unlike technology upgrades, many of these practices can be employed in existing facilities to increase the sustainability of operations without substantial capital investments.

Parking practices that do more with less include

Well-designed parking facilities are high-performing and efficient—and ultimately, they support local communities and our planet, as well as helping to drive profit. Architect, lecturer and author Shannon Sanders McDonald writes in her book, "The Parking Garage: Design and Evolution of a Modern Urban Form":

What are the benchmarks of a well-designed parking lot? In Rethinking A Lot: The Design and Culture of Parking, Eran Ben-Joseph explains: 

Parksmart is the world’s only sustainability rating system defining and recognizing sustainable practices in parking structure management, programming, design and technology. An industry-driven, field-tested roadmap for new and existing parking structures, Parksmart recognizes the forward-thinking facilities shaping tomorrow’s sustainable mobility network.

Placemaking is an effort to reimagine public spaces as areas that help strengthen a community's relationship to its surroundings. It involves a civic approach to planning, design and management by capitalizing on a local community's assets and potential. 

In addition to trying to prevent the acceleration of climate change, we’ve got to adapt to it. Resiliency is about that adaptation, about building structures and systems able to withstand those “once every hundred year” storms that come with increasing frequency.

Solar energy is a clean, abundant and free alternative to fossil fuels. The diminishing cost of solar arrays, combined with innovative financing, is helping make photovoltaic installations both environmentally and economically smart.

Stormwater runoff is a principal cause of urban waterway pollution nationwide, fouling rivers, lakes, beaches, and drinking water supplies. To reduce the environmental and public health threats posed by polluted stormwater and to comply with the Clean Water Act, cities nationwide are making significant investments to reduce stormwater runoff.

Attend one of International Parking Institute (IPI)’s upcoming training sessions on August 15 or September 27, and become a Parksmart Advisor. Parksmart is the world’s only rating system defining and recognizing sustainable practices in parking structure management, programming, design and technology. Parksmart Advisors lead clients through the certification process for sustainable parking structures.