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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