Airports worldwide have responded to the growing calls to become more sustainable and reduce carbon emissions to help fight climate change.
Airports have been associated with many environmental challenges, such as contributing to greenhouse gas emissions – the aviation industry generates close to 3% GHG emissions from fuel and energy use. Airports also generate a massive amount of waste noise pollution.
As an entry point to a destination, airports provide the first impression of a place, city, or country. Beyond their aesthetics, airports must address their environmental impacts by incorporating sustainable designs and practices.
According to Arup, a collective of engineering and sustainability consultants, designers, architects, and experts working globally, these are the questions that airports need to answer to achieve sustainability:
- How can an airport achieve net zero emissions?
- Can we design airports to become more physically sustainable?
- How do airports grow without damaging nature and biodiversity?
- How can airports become healthier for employees, communities, and users?
- How can airports play a bigger role in the local community?
Some airports have already embraced sustainable practices, designs, and features, such as using renewable energy, setting goals to reach net zero emissions, using wood in their designs, applying modular design principles, and implementing conservation efforts in their immediate surroundings.
CNN article presents six examples of these airports worldwide dubbed as the most sustainable airports in the world:
- Rafael Vinoly Architects recently unveiled designs for a cutting-edge green terminal set to grace Florence Airport in Italy. One of its standout elements is a sprawling 19-acre vineyard slated for the terminal’s rooftop. According to the firm, it will “serve as a new landmark for the city’s sustainable future.”
- In 2022, Geneva Airport constructed an extensive solar panel system atop the East Wing building. The more than 3,700 solar panels covering the 520-meter length of the building system generate more than 1.5 GWh of electricity annually.
- Heathrow Airport in London uses 100% renewable electricity to power all its operations, including lighting and escalators. In 2011, Heathrow pioneered a fleet of 21 battery-powered, driverless pods, offering zero-emission transportation to and from Terminal 5.
- Since 1991, Zurich Airport has significantly reduced its CO2 emissions by 30%. The airport aims to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040. The airport boasts 11 photovoltaic systems installed across its roofs and terminals. Additionally, more than half of the airport’s land remains undeveloped and preserved as green spaces, including nature conservation areas, contributing to its commitment to environmental sustainability.
- In 2009, Stockholm Arlanda Airport introduced an innovative “aquifer” near the airport. This underground reservoir serves as an energy storage system. Depending on the season, the aquifer is crucial in cooling or warming the airport, contributing to its energy efficiency efforts.
- Barcelona El Prat’s parent company, Aena, constructed several artificial lagoons near the airport along the El Prat de Llobregat coastal zone. This initiative aims to “increase the number of humid zones in the protected area, rewilding these degraded areas that once served as campsites.”
The Arup article notes, “The sustainable airport is something we can achieve right now. Airports have a fantastic opportunity to lead the sustainability agenda, pioneer progressive economic measures and practices, and ensure that the industry actively participates in the shift to a net zero economy. Ultimately, once the world’s airports are more vocal about their sustainability commitments and making progress on a path to net zero, they will strengthen their social license to operate. This won’t just benefit the industry but strengthen the cities and communities it serves.”
Source:
What makes a sustainable airport? (2024). Arup. Retrieved from https://www.arup.com/perspectives/what-makes-a-sustainable-airport
Sustainable airports around the world. (2024, March 6). CNN. Retrieved from https://edition.cnn.com/travel/gallery/sustainable-airports-c2e-spc/index.html
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