Making Parking Lots Environmentally Friendly for a Brighter Future

As the population grows, concern about climate change and maintaining a healthy planet for future generations have come to the forefront of many people’s conversation. While there’s no doubt that parking lots are a necessary part of any thriving business, they can cause problems for the environment if built incorrectly or unmaintained.

Curcio recommends that you consider the following when designing or updating your parking lots:

Warming Conditions

The sheer amount of Asphalt used to design parking lots attracts a lot of heat. Its composition and color absorb radiation from the sun and increase the temperature in the lot and the surrounding area. This topic is significant enough to have a name: the “urban heat island effect.” The warming can reduce air quality and cause people to crank up their AC, increasing energy consumption.

If you have a parking lot for your business, consider the effect that this could have on both your business environment and the surrounding neighborhood. Covering lots with solar canopies is an option that has been increasing in popularity despite its cost. These canopies create energy while cooling surfaces at the same time. Not only that, they create shade for parked cars, which in turn actually increases fuel efficiency as people rely less on their AC to cool off their cars.

Another option to consider is planting trees inside and around the perimeter of your lot to balance oxygen levels and sustain the environment. This has the added benefit of making your parking lot look much nicer, making it a more quality experience for your employees and customers.

Lots of Sharing

In Los Angeles, parking lots are estimated to cover at least one-third of land. As businesses multiply and flourish, more parking lots are being built and expanded to accommodate the population. The problem is, many of them stay empty a majority of the time, especially at night, but still utilize a significant amount of energy with safety lights.

Consider sharing a parking lot with a nearby business. The benefits are not just environmental. Sharing the space means sharing the costs and maintenance.

It’s also a good idea to include ample bicycle parking to encourage your customers to commute in more sustainable ways.

Clean Lots Mean Clean Water

Cars are full of fluids we don’t want in our drinking water and unfortunately, they can end up there if parking lots aren’t maintained properly. Oil, grease, coolants, heavy metals, and sediments come out of and off of cars to pile up on the pavement. When it rains, these pollutants can be washed away and run off into the waterways.

The best way to keep these pollutants from getting to our water sources is to be on top of keeping your parking lot cleaning. At Curcio Enterprises, our pressure washing services use only biodegradable, treated water to rinse drains, and any debris we collect will be disposed of properly.