As with all things in nature, sustainability is a balance. As the saying goes, if it was easy, everyone would be doing it. In parking and mobility, the shift to a greener reality has been moving in the right direction for quite some time, but efforts have certainly ramped up in the last few years. The surge in electric vehicles, both in personal and commercial use, has spurred conversations on what else can be done in parking and mobility to minimize our impact on the environment. 

The challenge remains that sustainability must be a balance between the people, the planet, and profit. If the balance is lost and favor is placed too heavily on any of the three, the other two tend to suffer. From a practical standpoint, sustainability in parking and mobility has really become about making better choices as part of a process of continuous improvement versus saving our planet and fixing years of damage to the environment in whole with every decision. 

50 years ago, no one envisioned a net-zero building would exist. Now not only do they exist, but they have become a bar set for many new facilities in the parking industry. While this is progress, a future of net-positive buildings sits just over the horizon. We are very much in a crawl-walk-run progression, where we are crawling strong and leaning in towards our first steps. We are getting there as an industry, slowly but surely.

In addition to working towards more adaptive, resilient, and regenerative parking structures, our industry is helping to push for better acceptance and use of more sustainable modes of transportation and greater mode choice. By encouraging commuters to opt out of a single-occupant vehicle, and opt in to bikes, scooters, buses, and other active transportation modes, and by accommodating those needs with innovation to incorporate these modes into parking structures, our industry has taken a leadership role to promote sustainability. 

This issue is packed full of resources to help you see all the possibilities for a sustainable future in parking and mobility. We hope it inspires you to find your own ways to make an impact.