A Green Airport. Denver International Airport (the 5th largest airport in the U.S. and the 10th largest in the world, with more than 51 million passengers in 2008) is dedicated to eco-friendliness and energy efficiency.
DIA is world-renowned for its pioneering Environmental Management System (EMS), which provides a systematic approach to managing the airport’s environmental impacts and to promoting and encouraging continual environmental performance improvement.
· In 2004, DIA became the first commercial airport in the country to attain ISO 14001 certification for its Environmental Management System, which encompasses all activities within the 34,000-acre site
· First U.S. airport to be accepted into the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Environmental Performance Track Program (2006)
· Received the FAA Environmental Stewardship Award (2007)
· Accepted into Colorado’s environmental leadership program as a Gold Level member (2004)
· Active participant in local and state sustainability initiatives, including Greenprint Denver and Colorado Action Climate Plan
· The airport is in the process of replacing its computer and flight monitors with energy-efficient LCD screens that require less heat and thus less energy for cooling
· DIA recycles more than 19 materials on a regular basis as part of standard airport operations
· The DIA fleet is 100 percent alternative and includes vehicles powered by compressed natural gas, hybrid technology and biodiesel
Solar Farm
In mid-2008, Denver International Airport inaugurated a solar farm situated on 7.5 acres directly south of Jeppesen Terminal between Peña Boulevard’s inbound and outbound lanes. The solar farm consists of more than 9,200 solar panels that follow the sun to maximize efficient energy production and generate more than 3 million kilowatt hours of electricity per year. The system – designed and built by WorldWater & Solar Technologies – is owned and operated by MMA Renewable. The energy generated by the solar park supplies a quantity of electricity equal to half of the power required annually to operate the airport’s people-mover train system. By using this solar-generated power, DIA will reduce its carbon emissions as much as five million pounds each year. Aviation Manager Kim Day noted DIA’s “longstanding commitment to sustainable operations and environmental protection.”
Global Reporting Initiative and Sustainability Guidelines for Airports
Denver International Airport has joined forces with nine other international airports and the Global Reporting Initiative to establish sustainability guidelines for the aviation industry. DIA and its international airport partners have turned to the GRI as the creator of the most widely used framework for sustainability reporting. Hundreds of companies in all sectors already use GRI’s main “G3 Guidelines” for their reporting. The 10 participating airports are: Athens Eleftherios International, Cancun Airport International; German international airports Frankfurt and Munich; Kuala Lumpur International; Toronto Pearson International; Zurich Airport in Switzerland, and Denver, Portland, and San Diego in the United States. During 2009 and 2010, GRI will work together with airports and their stakeholders (employees, investors, customers, communities, nongovernmental agencies and others) to create a customized set of reporting indicators for airports.
FasTracks
As part of metropolitan Denver’s FasTracks commuter- and light-rail expansion program, an airport commuter train is set to go into operation in 2015. The train will whisk passengers between the airport and Downtown Denver’s Union Station in less than an hour—relieving commuter traffic on Denver’s highways and roads and providing a real alternative mode of transport to cars and buses.
Learn more about Denver International Airport at www.FlyDenver.com