Sustainable Airport Construction Practices (2011)

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To develop the most comprehensive collection of existing and emerging sustainable airport construction practices, numerous sources were identified and consulted. The research began with a review of published literature to build the Collection and identify potential contacts. Next, online surveys were conducted to identify knowledgeable and willing participants for detailed interviews. Then, interviews were conducted to identify unpublished sustainable construction practices or practices that are in development. The interviews also were used to identify which airport operators have implemented sustainable practices included in the Collection, including any positive or negative benefits realized. Lastly, the interview participants were asked to complete an evaluation of a subset of practices from the Collection to provide the research team with input on the potential economic, operational, natural resources/environmental, and social benefits or impacts of the practices. The data collection phases and their results are discussed here. 3.1 Literature Review The Collection was initially developed by reviewing various public documents, including: • Sustainable guidance materials; • Information from research institutions; • Industry publications; • Airport sustainability reports, summaries, and initiatives; and • Construction documents, including airport and non-airport construction projects and initiatives. As a result of the literature review, the initial Collection consisted of 496 sustainable construction practices prior to conducting the surveys and interviews. Additional document sources pertaining to sustainable construction practices were also discovered during the interview process, reviewed by the research team, and added to the Collection as appropriate. A listing of all sources reviewed is included in the annotated bibliography located at http://www.trb.org/Main/Blurbs/164240.aspx. 3.2 Surveys The research team identified organizations and industry contacts that have relevant experience with sustainable construction practices. Contacts were organized into the following categories to ensure that a broad spectrum of subject matter experts was sampled: • Construction companies—equipment and material manufacturers, construction contractors. • Government agencies—federal agencies, state departments of transportation. • Industry organizations—trade groups associated with aviation, construction, and/or sustainability. • Educational institutions and research laboratories. 5 C H A P T E R 3 Data Collection

• U.S. airports with sustainable initiatives. • International airports with sustainable initiatives. An online survey was designed and distributed via email to ascertain potential contacts’ areas of expertise with respect to construction practices, identify the most appropriate contacts within an organization, and enable the research team to create a set of focused questions for each interview target. 3.3 Interviews Interviews were conducted with 47 individuals; a breakdown by contact category is provided in Figure 1. The objectives of the interviews were to identify additional sustainable construction practices that the research team may have been unaware of or that are still in development, and to receive input on the potential economic, operational, natural resources/environmental, and social benefits or impacts of the practices. Research institutions, trade organizations, and planning and design firms all had similar perspectives on sustainable construction practices, while the operators of U.S. and international airports provided a broader range of responses as a result of the differing sizes of airports (in terms of numbers and types of aircraft operations) and geographic location (e.g., operators of airports in warmer locations had a more negative opinion on the success of porous asphalt than those in colder locations). 6 Sustainable Airport Construction Practices Source: Ricondo & Associates, Inc., March 2010. Prepared by: Ricondo & Associates, Inc., March 2010. Figure 1. Interview participants.