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Prototype Airport Sustainability Rating System—Characteristics, Viability, and Implementation Options (2014)

Chapter: Chapter 2 - Review of Existing Resources, Guidelines, Metrics, and Rating and Certification Programs

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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 2 - Review of Existing Resources, Guidelines, Metrics, and Rating and Certification Programs." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2014. Prototype Airport Sustainability Rating System—Characteristics, Viability, and Implementation Options. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/22233.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 2 - Review of Existing Resources, Guidelines, Metrics, and Rating and Certification Programs." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2014. Prototype Airport Sustainability Rating System—Characteristics, Viability, and Implementation Options. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/22233.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 2 - Review of Existing Resources, Guidelines, Metrics, and Rating and Certification Programs." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2014. Prototype Airport Sustainability Rating System—Characteristics, Viability, and Implementation Options. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/22233.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 2 - Review of Existing Resources, Guidelines, Metrics, and Rating and Certification Programs." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2014. Prototype Airport Sustainability Rating System—Characteristics, Viability, and Implementation Options. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/22233.
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15 2.1 Background A literature review was conducted to support the development of the Prototype Rating System and the Decision Tool, and to ensure that existing pertinent work was incorporated into ACRP Project 02-28. The research team reviewed and evaluated current sustainability prac- tice resources, sustainability development guidelines, sustainability performance metrics, and sustainability rating systems and certification programs used by airports and airport-industry organizations and by non-airport-industry organizations. The research team compiled and evaluated three distinct types of sustainability resources: • Sustainability practice resources and sustainability development guidelines, to understand the variables associated with sustainability practices that could inform the stakeholder outreach and the development of a Decision Tool to select sustainability practices. • Sustainability performance metrics, to inform the development of the Prototype Rating System. • Sustainability rating systems and certification programs, to identify characteristics of rating and certification systems for potential inclusion in the Prototype Rating System and in a vol- untary certification and verification system for airports. 2.2 Research Approach This section describes the research approach used for each of the three types of sustainability resources. Sustainability Practice Resources The research team conducted a web-based literature search and evaluated sustainability practices resources found in the airport industry and other industries such as construction, higher education, and municipalities, with characteristics or features similar to airports. Over 20 airport and 13 non-airport-industry resources were reviewed as part the research for this task (See Appendix A for the list of sustainability practice resources evaluated as part of this research). The following evaluation criteria were used to categorize the sustainability resources: • Type of resource. • Applicability to airport practices. • Sustainability category. • Range of topics covered. • Availability of information. In addition, consideration was given to the applicability of the resources to airports of different sizes, roles, and geographic location. C H A P T E R 2 Review of Existing Resources, Guidelines, Metrics, and Rating and Certification Programs

16 Prototype Airport Sustainability Rating System—Characteristics, Viability, and Implementation Options Sustainability Performance Metrics The research team identified schemes of sustainability metrics and evaluated each metric scheme according to the following criteria: • Category. • Description. • Industry. • Availability of guidance on boundary setting. • Number of metrics available. • Availability of guidance on how to measure metrics. • Metrics set up for comparison. • Availability of data/level of effort. • Level of effort required to collect data for metrics. • Airport size applicability. • Comments/other notes. The web-based literature review focused on selecting a representative sample to serve the pri- mary purpose of assisting in the development of the Prototype Rating System. (See Appendix A for the list of schemes of sustainability metrics that were evaluated as part of this research.) Sustainability Rating Systems and Certification Programs The research team identified sustainability rating and certification systems in use in the air- port industry and other industries, and evaluated each system based on a variety of criteria. (See Appendix A for the list of sustainability guidelines and systems that were included in this evaluation.) Each identified sustainability rating and certification system was evaluated to describe: • System features of rating and certification systems. • Applicability (what the areas the rating and certification system applies to in each organization). • Technical content. 2.3 Findings and Applications In addition to informing development of the Prototype Rating System and the Decision Tool elements, this initial research provides a resource of valuable information to the airport industry. This section describes the findings from the review of the three types of sustainability resources. Sustainability Practice Resources and Sustainability Development Guidelines The following patterns were observed across both airport-related and non-airport-related sustainability practice resources: • Practices that relate to planning and design and day-to-day operations were found the most frequently in both airport and non-airport resources. Practices related to construction, maintenance, and administration and finance practices were less prevalent in the resources evaluated. The type of resource defines the practice focus; for example, design guidelines primarily addressed planning and design issues and focused less on maintenance and com- munity outreach.

Review of Existing Resources, Guidelines, Metrics, and Rating and Certification Programs 17 • Practices that addressed community outreach were the least covered in the resources evaluated. • In terms of general sustainability topics, the social dimension of sustainability was the least addressed of the EONS concept of sustainability. When social issues were addressed, they often related to off-site community impacts, and less often related to social issues within the organization such as wages, or workforce diversity. • The amount and depth of information varied: – For both airport-industry and non-airport-industry resources, the focus tended to be on descriptions with minimal information on level of effort. The exception to this pattern was resources that included case studies. – Costs of the sustainability practices were addressed primarily in the form of “return on investment,” with less detail provided on specific capital and operational costs. Among the airport-industry resources evaluated, the economic component of sustainability was well covered, although many resources focused on the financial feasibility associated with environmental issues, and fewer resources focused on other aspects of economic sustainability (e.g., revenue diversification). TRB resources associated with the airport industry (ACRP publications) were the most valuable with regard to implementation of practices. Many resources focused on training efforts associated with implementing sustainable practices, which is critical for the success of a pro- gram. Non-airport-industry resources were most applicable to airports for practices related to planning and design, maintenance, and day-to-day operations. Administration and finance and construction practices from the non-airport-industry resources were less applicable to airports. Sustainability Performance Metrics The following observations were made regarding both airport-industry and non-airport- industry metric schemes for evaluating airport performance. Of the airport performance and sustainability metric schemes evaluated: • The Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI’s) Airport Operators Sector Supplement (AOSS) and ACRP Report 19A: Resource Guide to Airport Performance Indicators resources are most applicable and valuable to a wide range of airports. • ACRP Report 19A: Resource Guide to Airport Performance Indicators provides the most extensive collection of airport performance metrics. • Most non-airport-industry metric schemes include performance metrics that are adaptable to airports of all sizes. • Most performance metrics require a minimum to moderate time commitment/level of effort to collect appropriate data. • Most performance metrics are designed for comparison to other airports/organizations. • Economic/financial performance metrics are covered most extensively in the resources that were evaluated. This identification of these metrics’ schemes was instrumental to informing the development of the Prototype Rating System described in Chapter 4. Sustainability Rating Systems and Certification Programs The findings of the evaluation of the sustainability rating systems and certification programs were used to inform the initial development of the Prototype Rating System by identifying: • Key inputs and features of a prototype rating system. • Sustainability areas for inclusion in the Prototype Rating System.

18 Prototype Airport Sustainability Rating System—Characteristics, Viability, and Implementation Options The following characteristics were observed across both airport-related and non-airport- related rating and certification systems: • Administration of the Certification Program (who oversees the program): – Airports: Certification tended to be undertaken internally by the airport entity itself, often by staff persons that had other primary responsibilities. – Non-airports: Certification typically was administered by a dedicated organization/institute whose sole focus was sustainability reporting, or an industry volunteer panel/advisory board. • Certification Process (who verifies the program): – Airport and non-airport-industry resources were both fairly evenly split between self-verified versus third-party verification of the certification processes used for rating and certification systems. • Categories (two main types): – Point-based systems (e.g., U.S. Green Building Council’s [USGBC] Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design [LEED]), which tend to have a prescriptive approach. – Framework systems (e.g., sustainability design guidelines), which tend to offer more descriptive guidance. • Additional Observations: – Buildings and terminals were most widely covered, whereas evaluation of infrastructure was limited. – Social and economic sustainability were mostly not addressed or were partially addressed by the airport-industry resources; the non-airport-industry resources addressed these topics more thoroughly. – Climate change adaptation was almost entirely unaddressed in all airport-industry systems. – Those systems that were most comprehensive in rating all aspects of the organization (opera- tions and maintenance, capital programming, administration/decision making, and planning) were International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001, ISO 2600, Sustainability Tools for Assessing and Rating (STAR) Community Index, and the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI) Envision™. The common approach to rating systems at airports is to customize and build on the USGBC’s LEED points-based rating system framework (by adding additional requirements, categories, and/or points) because it is the most widely used green building standard in the United States. The most notable examples of this approach include the following: • The Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA) – Sustainable Airport Manual (SAM). • The Los Angeles World Airport (LAWA) – Sustainable Airport Planning, Design and Con- struction Guidelines (LSAG). • The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) – Sustainable Design Project Manual. 2.4 Conclusions The research conducted as part of ACRP Project 02-28 informed subsequent tasks, specifically the development of the Prototype Rating System and a Decision Tool for selecting sustainability practices. Appendix A includes the detailed documentation of the literature research findings.

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TRB’s Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) Report 119: Prototype Airport Sustainability Rating System—Characteristics, Viability, and Implementation Options identifies the features of an airport sustainability rating system, identifies options for implementing the rating system and a certification program, and evaluates the viability of their implementation and adoption.

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