Istanbul New Airport to save water and power concerned with climate change

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Avatar of Juergen T Steinmetz

New Airport, adopter of world-class sustainability and environmental policies, is set to save on power and water through innovative and green technologies. Once operationalized, the airport will save power and water corresponding to the annual consumptions of 19,000 households and 5,500 households, respectively. These savings are expected to hit TL 33.2 million annually.ย  ย 

The 23rd United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties took place November 6-17 in Bonn, Germany. Convened every year since 1995 to evaluate the progress on the fight against climate change, the conference saw participation of representatives and guests from the UN member states.

Mehmet Kalyoncu, Board Member at Kalyon Holding and Executive Board Member of ฤฐGA, shared his views on the meeting: โ€œฤฐstanbul New Airport is the world’s largest airport under one roof and built from scratch. At ฤฐGA, we placed faith in our airportโ€™s capability of contribution to Turkeyโ€™s sustainability culture, right from the inception. The airport is globally unprecedented in many aspects. We are in the know of the responsibility we have shouldered. We started off with environmental and social impact assessments of the highest world standards. In an era marked by a rapidly changing technology, the fact that we build the entire infrastructure from scratch, unlike ongoing airport renovation projects in Europe, enables us to bring to life a much more innovative and sustainable airport. With these features, Istanbul New Airport will outperform existing airports in respect of saving and efficiency. We foresee to save power and water amounting to TL 33.2 million annually.โ€

Informing that the terminal building will be 20 percent energy-efficient and will save up to 40 percent of water according to well-established standards set by The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), Kalyoncu added: โ€œAll businesses to operate in the New Airport, designed in accordance with LEED Silver certification requirements, will have the green building certificate. Buildings such as the Air Traffic Control tower, the mosque and the State Guest House were also designed in accordance with LEED certification standards.โ€ Mehmet Kalyoncu also remarked that the structures to be utilized by third parties, including office buildings, hangars and cargo facilities, were contracted on the condition to meet the Green Building Certification requirements.

Noting that ฤฐstanbul New Airport is built to operate as a sustainable and environment-friendly as well as a barrier-free airport, Kalyoncu continued his remarks: โ€œAt INA, we have been satisfying the Green Airport requirements all along, starting from the construction phase. Built and set for operation in compliance with IFC standards, INA will also feature third party companies following the highest global environmental and social standards.โ€

Mehmet Kalyoncu elaborated on the sustainability-oriented technologies utilized in the design and construction phases: โ€œWith the BIM (Building Information Modeling) system, we improve efficiency in design and construction. Basically, we reduce waste in terms of cost, time, and quality, and monitor subcontractors to eliminate unforeseen overspending.โ€

โ€œThe studies we carried out here as well as the resulting accumulation of knowledge have become a case study for the global aviation industry. We are frequently invited to international conferences, for our studies set an example. We intend to share with everybody the knowledge, know-how and experience we acquired here so as to contribute to the sustainable development of the aviation sector,โ€ said Kalyoncu, emphasizing that detailed and technical investigation into environmental and sustainability aspects of ฤฐstanbul New Airport set a high-profile role model for world aviation.

Mehmet Kalyoncu also pointed out that they launched the ฤฐGA Social Investment Program on January 1st, 2016, in a bid to contribute to the socio-economic development of the local communities in neighborhoods close to the project site and manage in the best way possible the current and potential effects of the project; adding that they were nominated for three global awards in their social management projects to date.

ฤฐstanbul New Airport to minimize impacts of climate change!

รœlkรผ ร–zeren, ฤฐGA Director of Environment and Sustainability, who delivered a presentation titled โ€œฤฐstanbul New Airport Climate Change Action Planโ€ as part of the UN COP23 forum โ€œAdaptation to Climate Change and Sustainable Practices in Aviationโ€, described environment and sustainability as their first priorities. ร–zeren continued as follows: โ€œIn fact, climate change is one of the most critical factors that affect and shape the future operations of airports and other stakeholders such as airlines.ย  At ฤฐGA, we have been striving since day one to develop global benchmarks in an effort to minimize the impacts of climate change, and we make use of these benchmarks.โ€

Rainwater and recycled water to meet terminal buildingโ€™s needs

Pointing out that the terminal building will be significantly water-efficient, ร–zeren went on as follows: โ€œRainwater, recycled water, and greywater will be used in responding to the terminal buildingโ€™s own needs. This means saving 1.5 million m3 of water in a year, which equals the annual water consumption of 5,500 households. With regard to energy efficiency, we expect our efforts to culminate in saving on power corresponding to the annual consumption of 19,000 households and 30,700 tons of CO2 (eq) per year. Another fact is that these terminals are more efficient than the existing airports built in the past, which help reduce the need for fuel use and respective carbon gas emissions. In a time marked by smart cities, buildings and phones, we are proudly building the smartest and the most digitized airport.โ€

Fewer flight delays hence fewer emissions at INA

ร–zeren, ฤฐGA Director of Environment and Sustainability, said that the Istanbul New Airport runway design included the distance between runways, location of the terminal building, taxiway and runway layout in a way to minimize fuel consumption and reduce unnecessary flight time: โ€œFor this project is designed to have the capacity of serving both the existing and the future air traffic, INA will not see problems arising from busy air traffic. This will in turn reduce emissions due to planesโ€™ fuel consumption during long taxiway rides or circling over residential districts while waiting in line.โ€

โ€˜Greenโ€™ ฤฐstanbul New Airport

The Environmental and Social Impact Assessment run at the beginning phase of the project, more specifically between 2013 and 2015, helped in the identification of the impacts and the preparation of an Environmental Management and Monitoring Plan. This plan contains numerous items ranging from water monitoring, ecology and land management to a local health and safety plan.

The INA project comprises a social investment program, which involved Rambol Environ conducting a world-class environmental and social impact assessment. The program carried out more than 150 projects that reached out to 16,000 people, who are directly or indirectly affected by the works. This year only saw the implementation of a spate of projects on the development of beekeeping, promotion of plant production, improvement of animal husbandry amongst others, as part of nine strategic areas of the Sustainable Rural Development Program.

About the author

Avatar of Juergen T Steinmetz

Juergen T Steinmetz

Juergen Thomas Steinmetz has continuously worked in the travel and tourism industry since he was a teenager in Germany (1977).
He founded eTurboNews in 1999 as the first online newsletter for the global travel tourism industry.

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