Westfalia Advocates Automation for Building Developers Challenges with Parking Capacity
Storage solutions provider shares the benefits of automated parking garages for developers strained by rising vehicle numbers, budget constraints and limited building footprints
YORK, Pa. – August 2, 2017 – Westfalia Technologies, Inc. (Westfalia), a leading manufacturer of automated parking systems, urges building developers in the multi-family residential, office, commercial real estate, airport and hospitality industries to consider parking automation. In recent years, population growth, lower unemployment rates and a wider array of affordable car options have contributed to significant increases in automotive sales. With more cars on the road, developers now need to provide ample parking to accommodate them—on top of tight budget constraints and already limited building footprints, particularly in congested areas.
In a new whitepaper titled, “The Benefits of Automated Parking for Developers,” Westfalia’s Ian Todd, director of automated parking systems, discusses how automated parking garages offer significant benefits over traditional garages, which can help developers overcome these challenges. Benefits include:
- Improved Space Utilization- Typically, parking garages are designed to allow cars enough room to safely move and park, and for people to walk to and from their vehicles. But an automated garage only has to accommodate the equipment operating within the garage. In fact, automated garages require 60 percent less building volume and 40 percent less land than their traditional counterparts.
- Reduced Development Costs- Since automated parking facilities require less building space, developers can save on construction costs through reduced excavation, reduced construction time and lower land costs. These add up to huge savings that go directly back to a project’s budget.
- Lower Operating Costs- Since users do not enter the garage itself, developers can realize lower ventilation costs due to the reduced requirement of only two air changes per hour. And, automated garages can run in a completely lights-out environment so lighting costs are negligible.
- Minimal Environmental Impact- In an automated garage, cars are turned off before they enter the system. So, the engines aren’t running while the car is being stored and retrieved, which reduces the amount of pollutants that end up in the atmosphere by 60 to 80 percent.
“Even with the advent of car sharing programs and autonomous vehicles, providing adequate parking given the proliferation of vehicles will continue to be a challenge for developers. But by looking towards automation, developers can build garages that will be well-equipped to handle any volume of cars with a solution that is reliable, efficient, cost-effective as well as luxurious for drivers,” said Todd.
To learn more about the benefits of automating parking garages, download the whitepaper available now from Westfalia Parking Solutions.