Blog #1: LEED and DFW Airport

LEED... Should I be interested?:

During a class visit to the DFW Airport, my class had two speakers. The first speaker, Jerry Burbridge, was interested in understanding what our interest level was regarding LEED Certification. He will use this interest to design a future class we will be taking later on this year. The second speaker, Rusty T. Hodapp, is currently V.P. of Energy and Transportation Management. While his focus was the business side of the projects, he still explained how DFW is committed to becoming more sustainable.

LEED and its Importance, Building Life-Cycles:

Well according to the USGBC’s website, LEED is “redefining the way we think about the places where we live, work and learn [1]”. The definition goes on to say that it is a sort of “framework” for green building design and gives the building a score based on this framework.

Redefining buildings in order to make them better for the environment is never a bad thing. I am happy that LEED is gaining popularity in businesses and local governments. On their website, USGBC also points out that LEED is an on-going development. This makes me believe that the framework and the scoring are keeping up to date with the technology. A designer will not be able to create a totally sustainable building without taking into account the local environment. Creating a framework can take away from that aspect of building green, which is the one thing that upsets me about LEED. Some green technology is only good in certain environments. Until LEED has a framework for every type of environment, which will be very difficult, they will be streamlining the green building process. Streamlining is what created this unsustainable mess in the first place.

So the answer to the question of my interest is, yes. I would like to learn more about LEED. Since I am getting a degree in sustainability, I need to be able to know about this certification. What is the “framework”? How local is the scoring process? What is in store for LEED in the future? How could it be improved? What are the effects the certification has had so far? These are the some of the questions I am going to have while I learn about more about LEED. Knowing more about LEED will enable me to become a more effective change agent.

DFW Airlines and Sustainability Practices:

DFW Airport has been involved in sustainability practices for a few years now [3]. They touch nearly every part of sustainability; water preservation, energy, employee health, alternative fuels, waste management, wildlife management. Since their economic and environmental impact is so massive in the DFW area, every part of their sustainability initiatives has a huge impact on the local community as well. DFW’s Environmental Management System: Platform for Sustainability, or EMS, solidifies their commitment to sustainability. It has even won local and national praise. DFW’s EMS touches on every aspect of their business.

Praise for Sustainability at DFW Airport:

Water Preservation: DFW set another environmental standard by becoming the first airport to become a promotional partner in the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) WaterSense Program.

Energy: DFW received the award for National Energy Project of the Year from the Association of Energy Engineers. This award recognizes the successes of DFW’s Continuous Commissions projects for Terminal D and Energy Plaza.

Air Quality: DFW was recognized as an Outstanding Government Organization by the 2010 Clean Air Through Energy Efficiency Conference.

I believe this is vital to encourage a sustainable philosophy in a business. Since the speaker was a business leader within DFW, his focus was the project’s returns. So, not only was it good for sustainability, but also good for business. DFW Airport is a huge resource for big businesses that want information on how sustainability can increase their profit. Reducing energy cost, getting the most out of energy bills, and increasing employee health all sound like solid business investments. In a perfect future, DFW will inspire many more airports to increase their profits, by increasing their efficiency through sustainable projects.

[1] http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=1988&gclid=CIe-x-vaxa0CFWRjTAodzkukPg

[2] http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=2360

[3] http://www.dfwairport.com/sustainability/index.php

PICs:

[a] blog.livinghomes.net

[b] architectingvalue.com

[c] dfwgca.org

[d] dfwairport.com/sustainability/index.php

[e] sumanthkapoor.blogspot.com

[f]bedford.gov.uk