5 Sustainable Parking Solutions to Enhance Your Facility
4 min lire
Author: Justin Powell, Regional President, Western Canada, Precise ParkLink
While they may seem far from sustainable, parking facilities offer opportunities to lower emissions, reduce costs, and even earn LEED points. By adopting innovative practices and solutions, parking facility owners and managers can support broader sustainability goals and make a significant impact.
In this article, we explore five practical ways to make your parking operation more sustainable.
Offer electric vehicle (EV) charging stations for EV drivers.
Approximately 25% of greenhouse gas emissions are attributed to transportation. That鈥檚 why the Canadian government and car manufacturers have taken steps to help reduce their emissions output. With the steady increase of EV drivers in Canada, EV charging stations are no longer a nice-to-have, but a need-to-have. Adding charging stations helps your operation directly support the shift to clean transportation, reduce emissions, and create a more future-ready facility. Installing EV charging stations is also a great way to collect LEED points, otherwise known as the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. This global standard recognizes buildings and facilities for meeting high sustainability and energy efficiency practices.
Harness clean energy through solar-powered parking meters.
Today鈥檚 leading parking meter solutions often feature solar panel integrations, enabling your parking meters to operate autonomously using solar power and wireless communications. This eliminates high electrical use and reduces output. Beyond lowering energy consumption, solar-powered meters also reduce infrastructure requirements. The result is a cleaner, more efficient operation that uses renewable energy and provides long-term savings.
Reduce emissions with shuttle services and ride-sharing programs.
Carpooling and shuttle services reduce the number of vehicles on the road, which helps to decrease the number of emissions released into the air from driving vehicles. Your parking operation should encourage ride-sharing and shuttle services by offering a rewards program or discounts that motivate people to participate. Ride-sharing doesn鈥檛 just reduce environmental impact; it also eases congestion in your lot and can improve the customer experience by making parking more accessible.
Cut excessive energy use with LED lighting retrofits.
LED lights use significantly less energy compared to fluorescent and incandescent lights, making them a more environmentally friendly choice for any facility looking to reduce its environmental footprint. That鈥檚 why your parking service provider should install LED lighting as standard practice. If your parking facility isn鈥檛 currently using LED lights, ask your parking provider if they can assist with lighting retrofits to lower energy consumption. LEDs also last longer, which can reduce maintenance needs and waste from frequent replacements, all while providing brighter and safer lighting for users.
Promote efficiency with sustainable painting and signage.
Your parking service provider should control the products and production methods used for painting of any kind and implement efficient wayfinding solutions. As a bonus, good wayfinding helps cars reach their destinations faster, thereby reducing carbon emissions.
Reducing your organization's carbon footprint through its parking operation can be easy. It all comes down to adopting a sustainable mindset. Discuss with your parking service provider how you can implement sustainability measures at your parking lots.
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