Can a parking garage become LEED Certified?

Parking facilities cannot obtain LEED certification through the United States Green Building Council. LEED was developed to consider buildings that are occupied such as residential buildings, office buildings, and so on. Though garage building certification cannot be achieved, sustainable practices in the garage may contribute to the overall LEED certification of the building it supports as determined by a LEED professional.

However, the USGBC acquired the Parksmart Certification program to provide an option for organizations to identify, implement, and track the sustainability efforts and achievements of parking facilities. Similar to LEED, Parksmart offers certification levels based on the number of points achieved. The certification program incorporates measures across four categories: Management, Programs, Technology and Structure Design, and Innovation.

For more information on the Parksmart certification program, visit https://parksmart.gbci.org/.

*Federal, State, and Local codes govern most of these requirements and should be thoroughly investigated. Data presented herein should be considered guidelines only.  For more specific information and assistance with implementation of these guidelines, please contact THA Consulting, Inc. via email at info@tha-consulting.com