Environmental Leader

Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) International Airport, the world’s third-busiest airport, has purchased a new electricity and green energy contract through  World Energy Exchange, operated by World Energy Solutions in Worcester, Mass.

Through multiple online auctions, World Energy, an operator of online exchanges for energy and green commodities, helped DFW secure a term electricity contract for nearly 300,000,000 kWh annually, beating its prior rate while adding 20 percent renewable energy to its mix. Delivery begins March 1, 2010.

Some airports are considering other green initiatives. Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport, for example, may become the first airport in the country to develop a “green master plan,” a 20-year framework to guide future airport development, reports the Ithaca Journal.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires all airports to prepare master plans, taking into consideration the potential environmental and socio-economic impacts. Bob Nicholas, airport manager, told the Ithaca Journal that a green master plan would take this a step further to proactively address environmental issues that go beyond the minimum.

The FAA likes Ithaca’s green master plan so much that it is funding most of the estimated $300,000 project, with a little more than 2 percent of the costs covered by the county, reports the newspaper.

Halfway around the world, the Dubai Airport Freezone earned the Best Environmental Initiative award in property management from the Arab Institute for Urban Development at the Kingdom Expansion Congress 2009, reports Al Bawaba.

Adel Ghafan, executive director of engineering section, stated that winning awards year after year was due to the efforts by the Department of Strategy in translating its commitment into best practices in environmental conservation and pollution prevention for facilities in the airport free zone.