“Activism” and “social innovation” may not be the first words that spring to mind when parking is mentioned, but for USGBC member Impark and Canadian nonprofit The Forward Movement, parking facilities have become an essential platform for a larger dialogue about accessibility and inclusivity.

There is plenty of excitement about the 2018 IPI Conference and Expo where over 3,500 parking professionals from 30 or more countries across the globe will learn from one another and leave inspired to continue to transform the current state of the parking industry.

Running June 3 to 6 in Orlando, Florida, the conference will offer educational opportunities, parking-specific technologies and innovations, Parksmart recognition and opportunities to connect and collaborate with peers in the industry.

According to a recent report by Navigant Research (free summary after registration) that assesses the state of global smart city development, innovative parking and mobility solutions are helping smart cities reduce environmental impact, encourage economic development and improve efficiency of services.

Parksmart certification can now boost a project’s LEED score. The LEED Steering Committee recently added select Parksmart measures to the LEED innovation catalog for LEED v4 Building Design and Construction (BD+C), LEED 2009 BD+C, LEED v4 Operations and Maintenance (O+M) and LEED 2009 O+M projects.

With a growing appetite for electric vehicles (EV), customers in the U.S. are no longer just looking at parking garages as a place to stow their cars; they’re giving preference to those garages that offer a little more—including EV charging stations.

Photo credits: Ryan Snow.

Join us at Greenbuild Europe for an exploration into Parksmart and the first garage in Europe to embrace the rating system, the Obilicev Venac.

Parksmart certification: Transforming the parking garage of today into the multimodal hub of tomorrow

Parksmart has rounded up the top four most frequently asked questions we receive from people interested in exploring parking certification. Check out our answers to the get the info you need:

While it will take a number of changes to keep our planet habitable for humans for generations to come, transportation continues to play a substantial role in the climate change reduction equation. Around the world, transportation accounts for approximately 60 percent of global oil consumption, 27 percent of energy use and 23 percent of CO2 emissions. However, your parking garage might be one of the many underutilized solutions to the rising tide of transportation-related climate change.