EPA 908-F-93-001
   EPA908-F-93-001
   December 1993
                                          When Denver's new airport opens in 1994, it will be well^equipped to  .
                                          handle-the 30 million passengers expected to pass through each year. The
                                          careful design of the nation's newest and largest airport will be evident in its :
                                          space-age architecture, park-tJike setting, and smooth flow of travelers and
                                         ' aircraft. Less obvious, but perhaps more revolutionary, is the environmental
                                          planning that went into the facility-^-a concept called "pollution-prevention."

                          Planning and design for
                          Denver's new airport
                          included many features
                          specifically intended to
                          reduce the amount of
                          pollution generated there.
 New Thinking Applied at DIA
 Unlike any previous airport, Denver
 International Airport (DIA) includes
 features specifically intended to reduce
 the pollution that-typically results from
 such a mammoth public works project.
 To help design and implement ^these
 features, the .regional Environmental
 Protection Agency (EPA) office in
                 Denver worked
                 closely with the
                 City and County of
                 Denver, and the-
                 State of Colorado's
                 Office of'Energy
                 Conservation. An
                 Intergovernmental.
                 Personnel Act
                 agreement, assigning
• an EPA scientist to a one-year tour of
.duty at DIA, made the partnership
 official. This unique collaboration
 between federal, state, and local
 interests has potential for use across a
 wide range of projects.
Preventing pollution simply makes
more economic and environmental
sense than traditional "end-of-the-
pipe" or "command-and-control"
methods for reducing pollution. This
new thi-nking about pollution
reduction was percolating in the .
regulatory world at- the same time that
impetus was growing for a new airport,
in the Denver metropolitan area,-Yet
there were many obstacles to over-
come—the first being-the single-focus
approach that .regulato-rc develop by
working on singular, aspects of pollu-
tion control ('e.g., air, water, waste,
toxics). Integrating pollution preven-
tion measures into a $3.2 billion
facility covering 53 square miles of
land called for a "big picture," or
"multi-media," approach.

While most futurists expect the
struggle to reduce pollution to continue
well into the next Century, conscious'-
choices made up front to prevent

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Better air quafit^,  reduced solid waste, and water conservation can be achieved through careful planning and coiiaboration ajnong partners.
    pollution at DIA will help substantially
    in keeping the new airport's negative
    impact to a minimum.


          Specific Measures to
           Prevent Pollution
    Following is a-sampling of the pollution
    prevention measures taken or planned
    at DIA.

    5^ Embedding fly ash (unburned fuel
    particles from nearby coal-fired energy
    plants) in concrete to be used for run-
    ways and road surfaces, strengthening '
    them and making them more durable. .
    The use .of 180,000 tons of fly ash at
    DIA will save enough landfill space to
    accommodate the solid  waste.of a city
    of 40;000 people for 'nine years.

    >• Collecting and reusing 7.60  tons of
    glycol deicing fluids per  year, thereby
    reducing the volume of these fluids sent
    to wastewater treatment by 95 percent.

    >• Irrigating airport and surrounding
    development landscaping with
    reclaimed wastewater not treated to
    drinking water-levels. Scheduled to  .
    begin in 1-999, this effort is expected
    to save 542 million gallons.of drinking
    water per year.

    S» Conserving energy through design
    and operation features of the facility.
    These include a teflon-coated  fiber-
    glass roof to take advantage-of natural
    light, and the use of natural gas-
    powered chillers for air  conditioning.
    Despite the numerous energy-conser-
    vation measures taken,  however, DIA
 will still need to.maintain its own
 central power plant for heating and
 cooling. Here, too, pollution prevention
 will be built in: low nitrogen-oxide
 emitting boilers and flue gas recircula-
 tion'will keep 90 tons of nitrogen
 oxide per year from polluting the
 Denver metro area air.

 >• Controlling the release of "volatile
 organic compounds"-j-smog-forming  .
 vapors—through the use of floating •'
 roofs on fuel storage tanks and a'vapof
 recovery system at fleet  vehicle fueling
 stations. These measures will keep an
 estimated 52 tons of vapors from being
 released each year.

 3s* Landscaping with a predominance
. of the West's own drought-resistant
 plants, especially prairie grasses, to
 yield water savings in the hundreds of
 millions of gallons per year.

 >»•'. Fueling airport fleet  vehicles with
 natural gas rather than gasoline,
 thereby reducing emissions of carbon
 monoxide and nitrogen oxide.

 ••*- Designing and  implementing a
•solid waste plan aimed at cutting waste
 at its source, and reclaiming and
 recycling many waste materials with
 an initial goal of reducing landfill
 disposal by 16 tons per day.

 »• Offering airport employees
 staggered shifts, compressed work
 week's, and shuttle services to reduce
 their contribution to auto-related .
 particle emissions by an estimated
 7,000 pounds per year.
      Planning Today for a
        Better Tomorrow
Working c.ollaboratively to prevent
pollution at Denver International
Airport was an excellent experience
for EPA. Once Colorado voters
approved construction of the new'
airport, EPA became immediately
involved in the planning process by
providing advice on using the latest
technological tools to minimize  DIA's
environmental impact.

Not only did EPA learn to apply new
thinking and tools to technological
challenges, but it also learned a new •
way to collaborate with those it
regulates. This success sets a positive
precedent for "pollution prevention  by
design" to become the normal way of
doing busihess^tomorrow, and  into .
the next century.
   FOR MORE INFORMATION
         Please contact:  .
         U.S. EPA Region 8
   Office of Policy & Management
     999 18th Street, Suite 500
      Denver, CO 80202,2466
      '.:•"  1-800-227-8917
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                                                                                    •.:US. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1994-B4O-259

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