IU to offer cheaper parking permits for ‘green’ vehicles

It might pay off to go green with your vehicle.

Beginning in the 2009-10 school year, IU Parking Operations will offer a 20 percent discount on parking permits for owners of “green” vehicles. Currently this parking discount is only offered to faculty and staff, who can buy it for the fall semester on June 30, when the current A and C permits expire.

This discounted permit will also be available for students to purchase for the fall semester in August when they return to campus. The discount on student permits will not be as significant as the staff permit, coming out to only a few dollars off the permit each month, said Doug Porter, IU Parking Manager.

The discounted permit is being offered as part of IU’s participation in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program. The program works with the U.S. Green Building Council to make institutions more environmentally friendly. Institutions looking to go through certification must be certified in different aspects of building construction, including transportation, Porter said.

“One part of the transportation certification is to give preference to zero-emission vehicles,” he said.

Zero- and low-emission vehicles are the only cars to qualify for this discount.
Zero-emission vehicles run solely on electricity, and low-emissions vehicles are a combination of gas and electric. These vehicles are determined by the California Air Resource Board and must meet the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design regulations.

However, the discount has come under scrutiny from the general IU population. Some students and faculty said they feel as though people who can afford the more expensive “green” vehicles are rewarded, yet people who cannot are forced to pay the regular price of the permit.

IU Parking Operations is making sure to point out that the discount does not exist to create this divide in vehicle ownership.

“Parking operations is not trying to promote purchasing of these cars,” Porter said. “It is obviously an incentive. It is a very small incentive.”

Part of the reason for offering the discount is because of the new guidelines that have been put into place by the U.S. Green Building Council. The council made the suggestion about the possibility to offer a discount, specifically 20 percent, on parking permits to gain more credits toward certification, Porter said.

Certification is all part of creating a more sustainable campus. There are different levels of certification for sustainability, including silver, gold and platinum. IU gets credits that can be added up to reach these levels of certification by putting certain sustainable measures in place. The parking discount counts as one of these.

The new A and C permits are now on sale for the upcoming school year. To obtain the discount, students should bring their vehicle registration to the parking operations office.