EPA and Sustainability

The Environmental Protection Agency this week announced that it is joining the Department of Defense and the General Services Administration to establish a "set of guiding principles for designing, building, and operating federal facilities." It is part of the sustainability movement, around for some time but which just began working its way into the airport environment during the past several years. This week's announcement focuses primarily on making federally owned facilities more efficient and friendlier to the environment. EPA, via a program called Energy Star, also offers businesses and public facilities advice and tools for making existing facilities more efficient, etc. (Visit http://www.energystar.gov/buildings). The program is touted as having saved government some $10 billion in 2004 while reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. It's worth a look. For airport terminals, in particular, sustainability is being incorporated into the architectural design, energy systems, worker movements, and on and on - all in the name of making facilities more efficient, the workplace safer, and the impact on the environment over the long term. It costs more up front, but long term is projected to bring significant savings. Anyone considering significant facility construction will want to check it out. (AIRPORT BUSINESS magazine, during the past year, has featured several articles on sustainability; visit www.airportbusiness.com.) Thanks for reading. Related: Sustainability, Its Implications The New Buzz: Sustainability The 21st Century Terminal