RJC parkades earn Canada’s first Parksmart Certification

RJC Engineers (RJC) was excited to receive the news that Oxford Properties Group’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre in Toronto was able to achieve Parksmart certification on two of their parkades. GBCI Canada recently announced the nation’s first two Parksmart certifications: Yorkdale Shopping Centre earned a Pioneer level for existing parking structures for its G Parkade, while Yorkdale’s newly constructed E Parkade east structure, earned a certified Parksmart Bronze. The two parkades are also the first two retail Parksmart certifications in the world.

The sustainability measures that assisted in earning these certifications include the collection and usage of rainwater through cisterns, the usage of energy-saving programmable lighting, electric vehicle charging stations and the repurposing of grey water from a tank in Parkade E for the mall's washrooms.

As the world's only rating system designed to improve sustainable mobility through smarter parking structure design and operation, Parksmart helps parking structure owners and managers future-proof their assets and ensure they are functioning optimally in order to maximize operational savings.

RJC created an analysis matrix for evaluating both parking structures against various durability standards and prepared a report summarizing the findings. This report was then used by the sustainability consultant and project lead C.D. Sonter as part of the overall application for Parksmart certification.

John Kooymans, Principal at RJC and his project team applaud Oxford Properties Group for their efforts relating to sustainable practices for the Yorkdale Shopping Centre, their parking facilities and creating awareness for sustainable parking structures.

To learn more about RJC’s parkade projects, click here.