When people think about LEED projects, Sustainable Sites credit 4.2 – Alternative Transportation: Bicycle Storage and Changing Rooms often springs to mind. In my experience this seems to be universally accepted as a ‘cheap and easy’ credit to pursue. Calculate showers, changing rooms and bicycle storage based on anticipated building occupancy and that’s pretty much that.

In addition to a designated space where building occupants can park their bicycles to increase ease of alternative transportation, to meet LEED requirements the area must also be secure. There is no mention of signage in the LEED Reference guide for Design & Construction. Spaces should be easily accessible to building occupants throughout the year, and be free of charge. For most applications, ‘secure storage’ refers to anywhere bicycles can be locked/stored to prevent theft. For a residential application bicycle storage also must be covered to protect from weather in addition to theft.

But for most cases, bicycle storage in the form of outdoor racks is utilized to meet the credit requirements. This is where Madrax comes in. The company’s website states they’ve been a ‘maker of heavy-duty, high-quality, bike racks that are innovative, practical and aesthetically pleasing’ since 1989 and are ‘committed to being great at what we do, both for our customers and our products’.

Obviously biking is already a green option, so you could argue that any company that manufactures bicycle racks is ‘green’, but Madrax takes it a step further. The steel used to manufacture their bicycle racks is produced in the U.S. and their stainless steel racks are made of up to 90% recycled material and the vendors they use for outsourcing are within 100 miles of their plant in Wisconsin.

Madrax has over 40 standard rack and storage configurations; with optional finishes to suit any project’s aesthetic. In addition, they can create custom racks to fit any specification. Their newest racks, including bike bollards, vertical racks and even skateboard storage can be viewed at the Madrax website. The rack featured in the image above is the Genesis™. From the website: ‘When empty, the simple “floating” concentric rings of the Genesis™ look like an attractive outdoor sculpture. When full, these same concentric rings park bikes safely and securely.

The Genesis™ offers two contact points, at front and rear, for locking. The unique concentric design of the Genesis™ helps guide bikes into proper parking position while providing double the parking space of typical serpentine racks.’

Coordination on all parts of the design team is necessary to achieve SSc4.2 (especially in a non-residential setting due to the changing rooms and shower requirement). The Architect, plumbing engineer, civil engineer and possibly landscape architect in addition to the building owner are all involved in locating bicycle storage and changing room/shower facilities. But even in a project that isn’t pursuing LEED certification, bicycle racks and bicycle parking promotes bicycling, which reduces our environmental impact.

 

Use of Madrax Bicycle Parking racks may contribute to the following LEED credit:

LEED SSc4.2: Alternative Transportation: Bicycle Storage and Changing Rooms

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