Environment To optimise the benefits of
sustainability in all aspects of the airport city, visionaries and planners must:
Seek opportunities to integrate sustainability at all stages of development, operation and management following a logical framework. The table on the previous page summarises such a framework by identifying
various phases of airport city development and suggesting who among the proponents at each stage should seek measures to promote balance between financial, environmental and social benefits. Although this framework illustrates a somewhat Utopian airport city evolution, it can be useful in developing a context- sensitive strategy for the real-life scenario at hand. Moreover, the framework can be useful in gauging where the airport city is in its evolution.
Establish a baseline, metric and accounting system for quantifying the financial, environmental and social benefits of sustainability investments in
the airport city. The quantitative benefits of
sustainability include documenting the return on investment – whether it be in money saved over time, reduced consumption of natural resources (water, energy, fuel, etc) – reduced distances for delivery of second tier assets in the supply chain, or reduced commuting travel time by the labour force – each of these can be quantified to demonstrate the value of integrated sustainability. A baseline can be established and
subsequently measured to show continuous improvement. Critical analysis of the data will reveal whether the sustainable measures are actually worth the effort (cost/benefit), and will support improved decision-making. The accounting system will provide
the basis for continuous innovation that improves performance of the airport city as a whole.
40 Issue 1, Volume 5
Evaluate the practicality, feasibility and return on investment of applicable sustainability measures. At each stage of an airport city’s evolution, an efficient vetting of sustainable measures in the
context of a sustainability strategy is necessary to quickly narrow options to only those that make economic sense and yield measurable environmental and/or social benefit. Moreover, to justify investing in measures
that require upfront costs that are higher than ‘non-sustainable’ options, the period of financial return on that investment must be quantified and factored into the decision-making. While information sources like the
Sustainable Aviation Guidance Alliance (SAGA) database (
www.airportsustainability. org) provide an excellent compendium of sustainability measures applicable to airports, the unique character of each airport city provides opportunities for further innovation and optimised sustainability. Whether the airport city is defined by manufacturing, research and development, academic or other institutions, logistics and distribution, or some combination of these complementary business relationships could take advantage of by-product synergy or other dependencies akin to industrial ecology.
Implement and integrate selected sustainability measures at each stage of airport city evolution. This will range from
establishing goals and identifying desired outcomes early in airport city concept
development, to specification of sustainable building materials, to investment in state-of-the-art manufacturing processes by airport city occupants – here the rubber meets the road. Communicate the quantified benefits and costs of integrated sustainability to investors, customers, occupants, employees and community members. This provides the proof of concept in terms of interest to each stakeholder – dollars, environment, and community. Too often the positive outcomes of smart planning and management are not communicated out to constituencies and stakeholders. Good news backed up by data and analysis is … good news!
Communicating an airport city’s deliberate and progressive integration of sustainability will reflect positively on its brand and demonstrate its commitment to
shared values.
So how long does it all last? Core to the concept of a sustainable airport city is its ability to regenerate itself and evolve as the underlying business models, tax incentives, technology, reliance on connection/access to airports, workforce, and other conditions evolve. Presuming that the original visionaries and planners succeeded in establishing an airport city with flexibility and adaptability, its sustainable evolution will be underpinned by a robust asset management system.
Asset management is an integrated system that minimises the life cycle costs of owning, operating and maintaining assets at an acceptable level of risk. In the airport city context, the asset management system should account for buildings, transportation infrastructure and equipment, such as communications, security and IT systems.
Early phase and comprehensive airport city investment into an asset management system is vital to managing its evolution, and optimising sustainability at decision points about airport city assets throughout their life cycle. The key point is to make a deliberate
decision to integrate sustainability into the airport city, and to vet opportunities using a framework of goals and desired outcomes that systematically capture each aspect of its evolution. While we are always looking for the proverbial low hanging fruit, a planned, orderly and thorough consideration will optimise sustainability of the airport city. Early commitment to shared values of
economic, environmental and social benefit by the airport city visionaries and planners will set the course for the life cycle of the airport city.
About the author Thomas Klin is vice president at
CH2M HILL. GLOBAL AIRPORT CITIES
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