Can garages advance our sustainability goals?

Campus parking and transportation programs provide a vital but oft-underappreciated service. Cornell and Arizona State University are among the schools leveraging their parking and transportation programs to support campus sustainability goals while enhancing the performance of their operations.

Cornell, for example, has taken advantage of the Green Parking Council’s recently launched Green Garage Certification program to both promote and distinguish its transportation sustainability programs. Cornell’s Forest Home Garage’s LED lighting, strategies for reducing vehicle idling, bike parking programs, building systems commissioning and campus-wide parking and demand management plan helped it achieve the first university Green Garage Certification.

For interested managers, Cornell’s senior director of Transportation, Bridgette Brady, suggests looking for low-hanging fruit as a start. “For an existing structure with a limited capital budget,” she advises, “you can add recycling, bicycle parking, interpretive signs about sustainability and greening your garage, and wayfinding to multi-modal stops, carshare and bikeshare.”

“Adding bike parking to an existing garage can be easy and economical,“ adds Arizona State University’s assistant director, Commuter Services, JC Porter. “At ASU we were able to take an underutilized space in a garage and add bike racks and a card access area to create a bike-only parking that can be accessed by registered bike owners.” Additionally, ASU’s solar canopies increase rooftop parking utilization while producing green power for the university.

Increasing the performance of our campus operations while consuming fewer resources is the challenge and opportunity no matter where we find ourselves. Even the humble parking garage can pitch in. As our cars get smarter and we get smarter, our garages will too. Keep up with the developing story at greenparkingcouncil.org.

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

About the Author

Paul Wessel is executive director of the Green Parking Council (greenparkingcouncil.org).

Featured

  • University of West Florida Opens New Laboratory Facility

    The University of West Florida recently announced that renovation work is complete on a new lab building for its campus in Pensacola, Fla., according to university news. Building 80 will serve as the home to the university’s civil engineering program and the Tyler Chase Norwood Construction Management Program.

  • DLR Group Hires Higher Education Business Development Leader

    Integrated design firm DLR Group recently announced that Senior Associate Megan Todd will serve as its new Higher Education Business Development Leader, according to a news release. Her responsibilities will include building the firm’s reach and client relationships in the California higher education sector, based out of San Diego.

  • Colorado State University Global, SCTE Launch Online Certificate Program

    Colorado State University Global (CSU Global), based in Denver, Colo., recently announced a partnership with CableLabs subsidiary the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) to launch an online certificate training program for broadband professionals, according to a news release.

  • Construction Begins on East Austin CTE-Focused High School

    The Del Valle Independent School District recently announced that construction has begun on a new CTE-focused high school in Austin, Texas, according to a news release. Del Valle High School will measure in at 473,338 square feet and have the capacity for 2,400 students.

Digital Edition