New Membership Director Joins IPI Team

IPI is pleased to welcome T.J. Cantwell to its team as membership director. Before joining IPI, T.J. was vice president of nonprofit relations at Gifts In Kind International and led several initiatives to improve member services and increase member satisfaction. IPI is excited to have T.J. on board to listen to and work closely with the heart of our organization, our members. T.J. looks forward to serving you and hearing your ideas and suggestions. You can contact him at cantwell@parking.org. 

Interested in Serving on an IPI Committee?

IPI is soliciting volunteers to serve on the association's committees. Committees play a major role in IPI's programs, operations, and overall direction. As a membership organization, IPI appreciates the dedication and involvement of its members who are actively involved in its many committees. You are invited to respond to this year's Call and share your skills, passion and perspectives. The deadline to respond to the Call for Volunteers is Friday, July 1, 2011, and appointments will be made in August. If you are currently serving on a committee and wish to remain on it for another two-year term, you need to submit an application. Visit the website for complete details and to submit your application. 

Update on LEED Certification  

The United States Green Building Council released the revised Minimum Project Requirements (MPRs) on June 1, 2011. The MPR dictates the kind of structures and sites that are eligible for certification under the LEED Rating Systems. Until recently, the current LEED rating system, LEED 2009, allowed the certification of parking structures that met some criteria, including a minimum 2 percent ratio of interior space to gross floor area, one minimum full time equivalent, and 1,000 square feet of interior conditioned space within the structure. This meant that mixed-use structures with office and retail space could pursue certification under LEED 2009, and many owners in the industry have done just that.

With the latest issue of the MPR, as of May 9, 2011, "Parking garages may not pursue LEED certification. More specifically, buildings that dedicate more than 75 percent of floor area (including areas not covered, enclosed, or conditioned) to the parking and circulation of motor vehicles are ineligible for LEED. Parking garages may be included within the LEED project boundary. If parking is within, connected to, or on the site of the LEED project building, it may (and sometimes, must) be included within the LEED project boundary." Projects registered with LEED prior to May of this year may still pursue certification under the previous issue of the MPR.  Garages may still contribute point values for the certification of larger projects, such as a campus or office complex. As such, parking can still make a contribution to the LEED process. 

This change was not unanticipated, but was released earlier than expected by many in the architecture and engineering community. Moving forward, IPI will continue to inform our members on these issues, and the opportunities that exist to make structured and surface parking more sustainable. 

Win-Win: Awards of Excellence Winners Reap Benefits of Parking Matters Publicity Blitz

IPI's push to generate publicity surrounding the IPI Awards of Excellence program is a big win for the competition winners and the profession. "We make a significant effort each year to support the achievements of the winning projects by generating favorable publicity in trade, news, local business journals, and social media," explains Helen Sullivan, IPI's communications counsel. Sullivan says the fact that many of the winning projects incorporate innovative thinking, advanced technology, and sustainable solutions helps drive home all the messages of the Parking Matters program to advance the profession  (The Parking Matters video has been viewed more than 1,000 times! See it here.). The industry recognition and the morale boost for the winning project teams is sweet, but the value of the media coverage is priceless as a marketing tool winners can leverage to attract new business. Publicity for this year's honorees is still rolling in, but to date, coverage includes the New York Times' Wheels blog, Today's Facility Management, ArchNews Now, ARC-Tech News, Autoguide.com, Brownfield Renewal News, Durability & Design, and others. Entries for the 2012 Awards of Excellence competition will be sent to members in September. The deadline for entries will be early November.

IPI Awards of Excellence Coverage

IPI's Next Webinar:

Green Technologies for Parking 

Wednesday, June 22, 2011 

2:00 p.m. EDT      

Instructors: Richard Easley, CAPP, President, E-Squared Engineering, and Mike Drow, CAPP, Senior Vice President, Technology Integration, Standard Parking Corporation  

This impartial webinar, offered by IPI's Technology Committee, will explore ways green technologies can be used to improve parking operations from mobility, operating, and maintenance perspectives. Participants will walk away with a list of simple tasks to do now to improve the "green" of their parking operations as well as a list of longer term considerations that should be investigated.

Items to be covered include:

MOBILITY TECHNOLOGIES 

- Terminology. 

- Wayfinding - Internal and External.

- Alternative Transportation.

- Alternative Energy Vehicles.

- Congestion Reduction.

- On-Street - Off-Street Coordination.

OPERATIONAL AND MAINTENANCE 

- Alternative Payment Processing.

- Mobility Technology Impacts.

- Reduction of Paper Tickets.

- Certification.

- Retrofit - Lighting, Micro Wind Turbines, Solar Electric.

- Maintenance Practices.

- Short- and Long-Term Tasks.

$35.00 for IPI Members
$50.00 for Non-Members

Register at www.parking.org/webinars