Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
between project developers and the general public.
The dashboard would give up-to-date informa-
tion on the progress of an airport master plan
and a real-time evaluation of the environmental
sustainability of any design decision using the
presented method. The content of the dashboard
would be largely sourced from impact studies that
are already widely published. These data would
however be made available in a more structured
and user-friendly format. Stakeholders would
benefit from the dashboard in two ways: (1) they
would obtain relevant and condensed information
and follow the evaluation process as outlined in
this paper, both in real-time and online, using a
continuous data feed throughout the project, and
(2) they could submit feedback and participate in
the decision making process. The latter would also
benefit authorities by allowing them to capture
feedback and knowledge that they would not be
exposed to otherwise.
The methodology structures the evaluation
of airport environmental sustainability with the
following significant research findings:
1. A formal definition of the concept of airport
environmental sustainability with a selection
of impact categories and functional areas.
2. A flexible implementation strategy with
further perspective in the development of
an online dashboard.
3. A structure for the evaluation process using
criteria clusters, objectives, and performance
indicators.
4. A multi-criteria decision making approach
with utility and cost functions for the scor-
ing and weighting. The procedure allows the
evaluation of a large number of alternatives
and criteria, without the burden caused by
pairwise comparisons.
Further development has the potential to build
a dynamic dialog that is truly beneficial to airport
authorities, planners, and designers on one hand,
and all stakeholders and the general public on
the other, with a common ambition of achieving
greener airport design and assuming responsibility
for aviation's role in the challenges of sustainable
development.
CONCLUSION
This chapter formulates the theoretical principles
for the development and implementation of an
evaluation method for the environmental sustain-
ability of airport projects. Two fundamental goals
have directed the research process: (1) to foster
greener design practices among airport managers,
planners, and designers, in acknowledging the re-
sponsibility of the industry to manage effectively
the environmental consequences of its business,
and (2) to establish a dynamic dialogue between
all airport stakeholders as well as effectively and
efficiently addressing their concerns, in ensuring
capacity for development and overcoming the
shortcomings of traditional environmental impact
assessments. Concerns from the general public and
stakeholders are indeed growing at such rate that
they will soon prevent any form of expansion un-
less they are adequately and effectively managed.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to thank William Dunlay,
C.F. Booth, and Holland Young of Jacobs Con-
sultancy, Burlingame, CA, USA, for providing
information on current industry needs and analysis
data. The authors would like to thank Prof. Arpard
Horvath and Dr. Mikhail Chester of the University
of California, Berkeley for comments on earlier
drafts, and Yves Rammer of the Université Libre de
Bruxelles for advisorship on the research project.
