Certified “Green” Parking; on the Road to Sustainable Mobility

Green parking? Isn’t that an oxymoron? What would make a parking garage sustainable? The Parksmart rating system seeks to answer these questions by describing the industry’s most advanced strategies for reducing environmental impact and supporting adoption of more sustainable modes of transport. So far, nearly 80 projects in 19 states and 5 countries have either registered for or earned the certification.

The idea of sustainable parking has generally been criticized by green building professionals as a contradiction in terms. That’s because parking garages are designed for single occupancy vehicles, which significantly contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. Even so, the sustainable design industry has largely neglected parking garages. Most green building rating systems, like LEED, don’t apply to them.