February 24, 2012 - Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) International Airport has entered into a Sustainability Partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Officials from DFW Airport and the EPA signed a Memorandum of Understanding during a ceremony at the airport on Wednesday.

The airport’s objective is to extend its leadership role in sustainable, cost-effective business practices by making a voluntary commitment to further reduce its resource and energy usage under its Terminal Renewal and Improvement Program (TRIP).  

“Sustainability has landed at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, and the airport is leading the way with this commitment,” said EPA Regional Administrator Al Armendariz. “Minimizing energy and resource use through smart and sustainable business practices creates jobs and provides for healthier places to work and live.”

DFW International Airport is the world’s eighth busiest airport with 57 million passengers per year. The airport’s Terminal Renewal and Improvement Program (TRIP) currently underway is a $1.9 billion, seven-year project to renew the airport’s four original passenger terminals. The project will add approximately 2,000 jobs during the course of design and construction.  

“Our airport has long demonstrated an industry-leading commitment to sustainability, including more than a decade of investment in enterprise-wide sustainable practices ranging from alternative fuel vehicle fleets to responsible management of emissions, water and energy,” said Jeffrey P. Fegan, CEO of DFW Airport. “This new partnership with the EPA will formalize our efforts and allow us to share our lessons learned as more airports and public organizations adopt sustainability initiatives across all phases of their operations.”  

As part of the Sustainability Partnership Memorandum of Understanding the airport’s ongoing TRIP program will reduce energy consumption by ten percent and water consumption by 25 percent from a pre-project baseline. Optimize materials management through recycling and reuse, conserve resources, and prevent pollution by implementing cost effective environmental and business practices and provide annual data documenting water, energy, and materials management impacts to the EPA.  

EPA Region 6 will provide support to help reduce the airport’s environmental footprint. Establish a single point of contact to discuss sustainable strategies and provide tools to quantify economic and environmental benefits.

The TRIP renewal project has completed demolition of Terminal A Phase I (there are three phases for this terminal) and Terminals B, C and E will also be renovated in a multi-phased approach. Through the first phase, demolition procedures from Terminal A have already recycled 600 tons of materials, keeping them from landfills and lowering costs by $332,000. In all, an estimated 1,500 tons of materials will be recycled from Terminal A alone when complete, with similar efforts anticipated at the other three terminals.  

Many other sustainable initiatives are paying dividends in the TRIP program and other renewal projects undertaken by the airport:  

- Restroom upgrades already saving 5.5 million gallons of water per month thanks to the implementation of new plumbing fixtures that are compatible with the EPA’s WaterSense program.  

- Planned lighting upgrades will reduce energy consumption by 20 percent.  

- Installation of more efficient heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems will further reduce energy consumption by an anticipated 35 percent in the original four terminal buildings.  

- Floor tile will be replaced by Terrazo flooring made of aggregate such as stone, recycled glass, or plastic, and bound by cement or epoxy.