Centerlines - January 2008 - (Page 24)

ENVIRONMENT O’HARE MODERNIZATION Taking green to a new level E BY PAU L SE I DE N M A N N A N D DAV I D J. SPA NOV ICH BEFORE the first phase of OMP construction is completed in November 2009, more than 14 million cubic yards of earth will have been moved, processed on airport property and reused on site or stockpiled for future use. nvironmentally sustainable, or “green building” concepts are being applied to more airport facility upgrades and replacements. At Chicago O’Hare International Airport, the green building approach will literally be taken to a new level, given that it will be applied to the huge runway reconﬁguration and lengthening portion of the O’Hare Modernization Program (OMP), which also includes a new 60-gate west terminal building. To date, more than 17 construction packages worth $750 million have been awarded by the OMP, of which four have been completed. They are the relocation of an American Airlines’s facility parking lot, relocation of Runway 14L threshold displacement, a watermain relocation, and the extension of an existing taxiway. The runway project, however, is essentially the heart of the OMP. Under the $6.1 billion program, which broke ground in 2005 with completion by 2014, the runways will be changed from a largely intersecting to a parallel system, with the number increased from seven to eight. Of that number, two will be lengthened. According to Rosemarie Andolino, the OMP’s executive director, this will be the first time that green building concepts are being transitioned from vertical structures to a flat surface—at least for an airport construction project. She could be right. The fact is that until now, green building principals have been applied almost exclusively to buildings. Currently, the recognized standard of sustainability in design, operation, and construction is LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), which was established in 1998 by the Washington-based US Green Building Council (USGBC). Project architects and builders can apply for one of four levels of LEED Certification, awarded by USGBC on a point system. The four levels are “Certified, Silver, Gold and Platinum.” “We initially reached out to the USGBC for guidance, but found that the council was of no help with runways or other flat surface work,” Andolino noted. “Since sustainability was mandated by the Chicago city government, we had to develop our own sustainability manual, with input from stakeholders and industry experts including consultants in green building, as well as airline and other city agency representatives. As far as we could determine, nobody else has developed a sustainable manual for the construction of runways, taxiways, roads, or other (non-vertical) projects.” Known as the “OMP Sustainable Design Manual,” the document is provided as an attachment to each OMP design and construction contract. It is also 24 CENTERLINES | JANUARY 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Centerlines - January 2008

Contents President’s Message Canadian Airports Associates’ Corner Policy Center Regulatory Front On the Hill and On the Stump One on One: Dave Barger Revenue: The Concessions Awards Environment: O’Hare Expansion Passenger Focus: Houston Friendly Safety and Security: After Comair, What Next? Air Service Recruiting: Charleston’s Acquisition of AirTran On Management: Performance Benchmarking at DFW Now Underway Grand Opening Conference Previews and Reviews New Members Index of Advertisers/Advertiser.com Box Scores

Centerlines - January 2008

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