Sustainability

Airport Sustainability Guidebook
Overview The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) Aviation Office (AO) developed the Airport Sustainability Guidebook (Guidebook) to lead Florida’s airports into a successful and sustainable future. To do so, this Guidebook was developed with a standardized methodology and guidance for developing an effective sustainability plan and implementing sustainability initiatives. It was the goal of FDOT to assist airports and their related staff to develop financial strategies geared at a broad range of topics affecting an airport and its overall sustainability.

This Guidebook was developed specifically for Florida’s airports and for use in educating and informing entities and individuals interested in sustainability including airport managers, airport authorities, local governments, and airport stakeholders and partners, both internal and external. To be as user-friendly as possible, the Guidebook was developed in two distinct sections: “Introduction to the Guidebook” and “Sustainability Planning”. “Introduction to the Guidebook” introduces the project and the methodologies undertaken during its preparation and public outreach and provides general information on sustainability planning. The “Sustainability Planning” section provides detailed information on the steps an airport should follow to develop a complete sustainability plan. Great effort was taken to make the Guidebook as flexible and customizable as possible. This was done with the intent of providing a resource for ALL Florida airports, not just airports that can afford to fund an entire stand-alone sustainability plan.

The Guidebook was developed using a wide range of stakeholder input, experiences, and opportunities in identifying possible strategies for consideration and implementation. The Guidebook is also intended to provide a framework within which to proactively plan, develop milestones, and identify potential strategies to assist airports in establishing or maintaining financial self-sufficiency and overall sustainability.

At its core, this Guidebook provides a basic structure for developing, implementing, and monitoring sustainability projects and initiatives at an airport. To accomplish this, the Guidebook was developed using four distinct sections:

• 1. Setting the Stage
• 2. Baseline assessment
• 3. Plan Development
• 4. Implementation and Performance Monitoring

Together, these sections detail the most current information on sustainability planning and provide step-by-step guidance on successfully developing a sustainability plan. To support this, information from numerous research documents, including ACRP Reports and those from the FAA and FDOT, provide information on specific components that are integral to sustainability planning. In addition, other airport sustainability plans were utilized during the development of the Guidebook.

This Guidebook is not intended to require or recommend that all the information presented be included in an airport’s sustainability plan. It should be understood that not all airports will require the same level of detail, and certain aspects may not need to be included within a plan based on the airport’s size and scope of operations. Each airport undertaking this process should determine what components and recommendations are important and should be considered for implementation. Based on stakeholder interviews and reviews of available resource materials, recommendations are provided which allow the reader to understand which components of the sustainability planning process are inherently necessary. However, the degree and depth to which they are analyzed should be left to the discretion of the airport/airport sponsor and the project team.

It is FDOT’s goal, through this Guidebook, to provide the framework for airports to more easily and effectively develop sustainability plans and implement sustainability initiatives throughout all functional areas of an airport. This effort is part of an even larger goal of making Florida aviation the model to lead the state’s transportation system into a more economically self-sufficient, environmentally friendly, operationally efficient, and socially responsible future. As airports begin to utilize this Guidebook, positive outcomes and sustainable benefits will begin to be seen.

Guidebook Documents Main Guidebook

• Complete Airport Sustainability Guidebook with appendices
• Airport Sustainability Guidebook Primer for Airports and Consultants
• Airport Sustainability Guidebook Primer for Airport Partners and Stakeholders
• Airport Sustainability Guidebook White Paper
• Airport Sustainability Presentation Template

Guidebook Appendices

• Appendix 1: Airport Online Survey
• Appendix 2: Literature Review
• Appendix 3: Agency Stakeholder Interviews
• Appendix 4: Airport Case Studies
• Appendix 5: Airport Stakeholder Interviews
• Appendix 6: Coordination with Non-Airport Plans and Policies
• Appendix 7: Tool Inventory
• Appendix 8: Reference Materials and Literature Review
• Appendix 9: Samples and Templates

For more information on airport sustainability, please contact the Aviation Program Administrator.