S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y P R O G R A M S U M M A RY
Overview
Charlotte Douglas International
Airport (CLT) is the second
busiest Airport on the Eastern
seaboard. Served by six major
airlines, AirTran/Southwest,
American, Delta, JetBlue, United,
and US Airways; and three foreign
flag carriers, Air Canada Jazz,
Insel Air, and Lufthansa German
Airlines, CLT is US Airways’
largest passenger hub. As US
Airways continues to focus more
of its network operations at the
Airport, CLT passenger traffic
continues to grow. In 1982, when
the current terminal opened, CLT
served 5.7 million passengers.
More than 39 million passengers
were served in 2011.
Currently, passenger airlines
operate an average of 670
flights per day to 138 non-stop
destinations in the United States,
Canada, Mexico, Europe, South
America and the Caribbean.
By virtue of the Airport and the
passenger airlines that serve
it, citizens of the Charlotte
Region have access to direct
service to most airports in the
United States.
CLT is also home to significant
military, cargo and corporate
aviation operations. Many
corporate aircraft are stored
and maintained at one of the
15 corporate aviation facilities
at the Airport. The remaining
corporate and private aircraft
are accommodated by CLT’s
moving towards a sustainable future
fixed based operator, Wilson Air
Center, which operates this
facility on behalf of the City. The
Charlotte Air Cargo Center is
home to more than 20 operators.
The NC Air National Guard and
NC National Guard both have
facilities on Airport premises.
Airports compete in a growing
world with diminishing natural
resources. To gain a competitive
edge, they need to adapt to do
more with less. Sustainability
is based on a simple principle:
Everything that we need for our
survival and well-being depends,
either directly or indirectly, on
our natural environment.
Sustainability creates and
maintains the conditions under
which humans and nature can
exist in productive harmony, that
permit fulfilling the social,
economic and other requirements
of present and future generations.
Sustainability interfaces with
economics through the voluntary
trade consequences of economic
activity. Moving towards sustainability is also a social, local and
individual lifestyle, and ethical
consumerism.
Ways of living more sustainably
can take many forms, from
controlling living conditions
through sustainable cities, to
reappraising work practices such
as green building or developing
new technologies that reduce
the consumption of resources.
CLT has chosen to embrace and
incorporate these approaches
into its daily operations,
moving the Airport towards a
sustainable future.
CLT realized that in order for
its program to be effective, it
would need the organizational
leadership of management
coupled with the experience of
staff. Therefore, our program
was developed internally. It is
designed to be decentralized,
highly effective and flexible. The
program encompasses a wide
array of accepted sustainable
design standards and principles
from local, regional, and international levels. CLT has created
a program incorporating these
standards. This unique approach
will help the program revolve
around the changing standards,
rather than having the standards
revolve around the program.
This is opposite of how most
airports approach and operate
their sustainability programs.
CLT’s program began years
ago but its formation took
shape in March 2011, and was
completed eight months later
in October 2011.
CLT incorporated the most
recognized approach to
sustainability; the “Triple Bottom
Line”. This approach, which is
also known as “people, planet,
profit”, captures an expanded
spectrum of values and criteria
for measuring success: economic,
ecological and social. CLT’s
sustainable initiatives show
and provide a balance between
society and the environment, and
contribute to the local economy.
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S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y P R O G R A M S U M M A RY
Overview
moving towards a sustainable future
People
Bearable
Planet
Equitable
Sustainable
Sustainable Sites
Materials & Resources
Water Efficiency
CLT has the following three
deliverables:
Air Quality
1. CLT Sustainability Program
Summary
Energy
Innovation
Viable
CLT uses the principles recommended in the Sustainable
Aviation Guidance Alliance (SAGA).
The Airport also studied the
structure of other airport and
city sustainability programs to
assist with the development of
CLT’s sustainability program.
The primary goal of CLT’s
sustainability program is to
have a relatively accelerated
and responsive process that is
easy to understand with clearly
demonstrated results. These
results are captured in an annual
catalog, which contains detailed
information on dozens of
implemented initiatives. This
method ensures that CLT will
remain on the leading edge of
incorporating sustainable
practices into Airport policies.
CLT uses the United States
Green Building Council’s
(USGBC) categories to classify
all sustainability projects.
Profits
2.CLT Sustainability Policies
3.CLT Sustainability Catalog
The CLT Sustainability Program
Summary contains information
on how the program works. The
CLT Sustainability Policies are
for each Focus Area and contain
what sustainable practices the
Airport has mandated into its
everyday operations. Lastly, the
CLT Sustainability Catalog is a
summary of completed initiatives
for the calendar year.
The program is divided into
five focus areas so that the
categories can work around the
focus areas. These focus areas
correlate with the five major
functions of the Airport as it
relates to sustainability, which are:
Facilities Maintenance
& Operations
Development
Environmental
Transportation
Concessions & Tenants
CLT’s Commitment to Sustainability
Identify and pursue fiscally responsible practices
and strategies that minimize environmental
impacts to achieve a sustainable enterprise for
the benefit of the region.
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