Eco Garage Automatic Parking for Chicago

Parking will be made a lot easier for some of Chicago's residents in the next year or so, as a new automated parking structure entered construction in the city's Bucktown district. The automated parking lot, called the Green Park Eco Garage, is a fully automated structure which will allow the parking of more than 100 vehicles.

When it becomes operational in late 2011, the building, if it can be called that, will make use of a robotic system to park cars in such a manner that the capacity is nearly doubled compared to similar, but not automated parking lots.

Some of you might have noticed that the structure has the “green” word in its name. That has been put there on purpose, to reflect the structure's eco-friendly attributes. According to Inside Line, the facility uses several recycled materials, energy-efficient lighting and a rainwater-collecting roof. Taking advantage of the fact that people do not need to go inside the structure to park their cars, the interior can be left unheated.

For those who aren't familiar with the concept of automated parking (also known as automated parking garages, multi-tiered car parking systems or robotic parking), it's enough to say that the system is based on the simple principle of stacking.

Cars are stacked one on top of each other, on several levels, allowing, for instance, for 20 cars to occupy the same footprint as four would have done in normal parking conditions. For a better understanding on how the systems work, you can check out our How Automated Parking Systems Work guide.