After 30 years of serving Albuquerque International Sunport, Airport Fast Park, an off-site airport parking company, is changing its colors. Airport Fast Park is becoming green, in practice and in brand as it changes its name to Fast Park & Relax.

Most noticeable to customers will be the new Daimler Sprinters featuring people ‘relaxing’ as they journey to the airport, the new employee uniforms and the updated signage at the facility.

“We are excited to introduce our new, Fast Park & Relax brand to the Albuquerque market,” said Melanie Chavez, who oversees branding for the company. “The new brand in name and color reflects who we are as an organization and communicates those essential elements our airport customers care about: speed and a consistent, relaxing experience.”

While the change to Fast Park & Relax does primarily entail a branding change, it also exemplifies the company’s commitment to reducing its energy consumption and utilizing sustainable techniques where possible. The Sprinter shuttles are proven to reduce carbon emissions by more than 50 percent, when compared to traditional shuttle busses. Further, Sprinters get double the miles per gallon over traditional shuttles. Fast Park & Relax estimates that their fleet runs over 210,000 miles per year in Albuquerque. By using the Sprinter fleet, the company will lower its fuel consumption by nearly 17,000 gallons and will emit 468,000 fewer pounds of CO2 annually.

Another change that Fast Park has recently made is the installation of approximately 1,700 covered parking spaces. Not only do these carports protect customers’ cars from the hot sun, but they also lessen the heat island effect that is often attributed to large concrete or asphalt surfaces. By reflecting light from the Sun, the residual heat does not warm the parking surface. This causes less heat to be absorbed into the local environment and the water table below the surface. As well, the addition of these carports has allowed Fast Park to replace more than 90 percent of its traditional mast light poles with more energy efficient florescent lights, thereby reducing its overall energy consumption and total amount of light trespass in the immediate area. Fast Park is also looking to install charging stations for electric cars in early 2010.

“As an organization, we are becoming increasingly focused on trying to find ways to reduce our impact upon the environment,” Chavez added. “We have recently made large strides within our new construction and are very happy that we’ve been able to make some incremental changes at our Albuquerque property, which has been serving this community for many years.”

Fast Park, headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio operates 18 off-site airport parking facilities in 12 markets throughout the United States. Business units of Fast Park include Airport Fast Park, Fast Park & Relax, Park Place and Fast Park2. Facilities are located in Albuquerque, Austin, Baltimore (2 facilities), Cincinnati (2 facilities), Cleveland (3 facilities), Houston (3 facilities), Memphis, Miami, Milwaukee, Orlando, Raleigh and Tucson. All facilities are open 24 hours per day, seven days per week, with car to door terminal service. Fast Park is committed to exploring and utilizing environmentally sustainable materials, technologies, and operational practices that will help reduce its impact on the environment.