Centerlines - September 2008 - (Page 54) E N V IR O N M E N T MEASURING GREENHOUSE GASES B Y C A R ROL L MCC OR M IC K Seattle-Tacoma International Airport takes action with the industry’s most comprehensive emissions inventory OVER the past five years, lighting retrofits have reduced energy consumption by 50 percent while increasing the amount of light by 300 percent. Taking the Broadest View very source of carbon dioxide related to airport operations contributes to the global loading of greenhouse gases, yet the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the airport community are inconsistent about what sources to include in emission inventories. In 2006, the Port of Seattle made history by producing the country’s first comprehensive inventory of greenhouse gasses emissions for the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and has taken steps to reduce emissions, including those generated off-airport. The value of such an inventory goes beyond being a true accounting of greenhouse gasses attributable to an airport’s existence. “Ultimately, it will be used to measure the success of actions to reduce the emissions,” said Mary Vigilante, president and owner of Synergy Consultants, in Seattle. E Synergy took Sea-Tac beyond the traditional FAA approach of measuring criteria pollutants (nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, particulate matter, lead, and ozone) to include pollutants from sources such as terminal electricity providers, aircraft above 3,000 feet and off-airport passenger vehicles, taxis and busses. “Since greenhouse gases have global impacts, versus the regional aspects of the criteria pollutants, we decided that we needed to look at the broader boundaries of the emissions associated with Sea-Tac,” explained Elizabeth Leavitt, director, aviation environmental programs with the Port and a member of the ACI-NA Environmental Affairs Committee and the vice chair of the World Environment Standing Committee. 54 CENTERLINES | SEPTEMBER 2008
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