Carol Lurie, principal and leader of VHB’s Airport Sustainability Planning Team, takes sustainability pretty seriously—at work and at home. And she says she will tackle her new role as chair of the Airport Consultants Council (ACC) board of directors with similar gusto, taking a hard look at sustainability within ACC and in the aviation industry.
Lurie says she set two major goals as head of the ACC board, one internal and one external. “The external goal is to increase the visibility of ACC and educate others on what ACC does. I want to let people know that ACC's available to serve the industry, whether it's providing technical support or training or making connections in the industry,” she says. “On the internal side, I would like to be developing our next gen, but it's not the aviation NextGen. It's the next generation of technical professionals. I want ACC to reach down into our member organizations, train young people and bring them in through the aviation industry. I'm really passionate about bringing young people into the industry and having them grow up in the organization. It's the sustainability of the industry.”
With predictions indicating that airports will need $313 trillion worth of infrastructure investment by 2020, Airport Business chatted with Lurie, LEED AP, ENV SP, AICP, to gain insight on the infrastructure developments and sustainability initiatives airports need to consider in the years ahead.
What types of improvements are sorely needed at airports?
There is going to be a lot of improvement needed on the terminal and passenger processing side.
Many terminals, specifically the older ones, are not very flexible. They need to be made more flexible by connecting on the airside, for example, so they can handle different types of airline consolidations--think curbside improvement, parking updates, incorporating the use of high occupancy vehicles, improving access to airports, and adding people movers. I think we're going to be seeing a lot of airports improving access. We need to also make airports more efficient and generate more non-aeronautical revenue, and really identify what's needed for aviation purposes and what could be developed for non-aviation purposes.
What can airports do to improve efficiency?
There are all sorts of things happening right now, from making baggage handling facilities more efficient and flexible to accommodating different airlines and the way they work with baggage, to on the concession side where they are offering more opportunities for passengers to improve their airport experience, whether it's through facilities such as yoga rooms, a varied shopping experience, or being able to order your meal at the gate and have it delivered right to where you're sitting.
On the operations side, airports need to look at the highest use of gates, overnight parking spaces, and more. Airports are such a constrained facility; it's really important to use every piece of land as efficiently as possible. It's really common sense planning. If you think about an airport as a city, putting land uses in the most convenient location for an airport’s multiple users is the way to go.
What types of things airports should be considering in the area of sustainability and greening operations?
Sustainability is not really just the environmental side, such as improving air quality or conserving energy or water conservation. It also includes the social and economic side of things; the social being people, the community and jobs and the economic being revenue generation and operational efficiency. VHB follows the ACI-NA definition of sustainability, the EONS definition: Economic, Operational, Natural Resources and Social Responsibility, which takes a very broad look at sustainability. We've worked with more than a dozen airports around the country doing sustainability planning with them.
In those areas that aren't often top of mind when it comes to sustainability, what are some things airports can be thinking about?
On the social side they can make sure that their employees have sufficient training and really understand how they can contribute to the organization’s sustainability. It's reaching out and looking at everything from the supply chain to the materials that are used, whether they're used on the day-to-day basis or in construction, so you cut down on transportation costs.
It’s teaching sustainability awareness to help others understand that what they do at home as well as at the airport is very important. How do they get to the airport, for example? What's the most sustainable way of accessing the airport? Should they drive in alone, take an express bus or train, or get there in a high occupancy vehicle? What is the most responsible way to get to the airport?
Giving back to the community is also a huge piece to sustainability. Many airports have almost a corporate social responsibility approach to sustainability, whether it's Wings for Autism or a plane pool to raise funds, charity drives or internship programs. People at airports are beginning to value the community return on investment, almost as much as the financial return on investment.
Tell me about your work on sustainability master plans.
I've got in on the ground floor. I worked on two master plans with teams at other firms. The first one we worked on was at Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport. Then we worked on a standalone sustainable plan for Saint Augustine Airport, which is a small general aviation airport in Florida. From those two FAA-funded plans, the FAA developed guidance for creating sustainable master plans. I’ve also worked with Salt Lake City International Airport, Nashville International Airport, and Boston Logan International Airport on their sustainability management plans. It's a terrific program; lots of lessons are being learned. It’s been really creative and innovative in learning how different communities are approaching sustainability, setting different priorities depending on what's happening in their regional context.
This has been supplemented by quite a bit of work with Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP). With VHB, I was the principle investigator for an ACRP project that looked at a sustainability rating system for airports, similar to the LEED program but specifically for airports. That's going to be released at the end of the year. VHB also participated in the update of the SAGA database, which is another ACRP sustainability project. VHB also worked on another sustainability project looking at the operations and maintenance side of sustainability. To successfully implement sustainability initiatives, you really need to understand what it means mean for operations and maintenance down the line.
There are two really exciting projects in the works that look at sustainable management planning on a state-wide basis, both in Virginia and Colorado. These plans are coming up with an approach to sustainable planning for airports of all sizes, with different roles and different geographies. The idea behind these plans is to develop a template of examples, goals and objectives for sustainability strategies. If you determine that, for example, water conservation, energy and community are your three priority areas, what menu of options could you consider?
Where are we at in terms of getting airports across the country thinking about sustainability and planning for their sustainable futures?
I think it's becoming a major trend for a couple of reasons. The community's asking for it; passengers are asking for it; and local leadership, whether it's the county or the state, are asking for it. If it's a county-run airport, and the county is doing a climate plan or a sustainability management strategy, where does the airport fit in? It's almost become expected to think about sustainability. People expect to see natural light in airports. They look for sustainable construction materials, yoga rooms, and quality, healthy food.
Sometimes with sustainability there’s this belief that to be sustainable you have to do all of these projects immediately. Can you talk a little bit about the fact that sustainability is something you can build upon over time?
Sustainability is not a plan, it's a process. You're never done. You first need to figure out what your priorities are then prove that you can work on your priorities because nothing breeds success like success. I don't think sustainability is ever done. I think it's a mindset. It's a way of doing business. It’s planning for the future in the most rational way you can, being mindful of your resources, being mindful of your community, being mindful of your finances, and putting those pieces together.
