India's Airport Gets A Social Innovation Makeover

Green building and social innovation techniques are becoming worldwide trends and India's new airports are no exception. Terminal 3 at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International airport is the world's first and largest terminal building to win green building's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) gold certification. This badge is earned by buildings meeting standards set by the U.S. Green Building Council and the Indian Green Building Council.
The Indira Gandhi airport expansion program will increase its capacity to handle 100 million passengers by 2030 and since flying is the most carbon-intensive form of transportation, generally airports are not considered great for the environment. Therefore, new airports that are built need to be as green as possible incorporating social innovation. So, New Delhi's Terminal 3 green provisions are a bench mark which include ecological ideas such as strong day lighting; use of construction materials with recycled content; recycling of construction waste; use of alternative vehicles such as battery operated transport, which are supported by electric charging stations; water management through rainwater harvesting; on-site, reverse-osmosis treatment for drinking water; on-site wastewater treatment and reuse for toilet flushing; and a whole host of other economical processes.
According to the Airports Authority of India, the country's domestic and international air traffic was approximately 38 million passengers from 1999 to 2000. While, during 2010-2011 it saw more than 143 million people fly; the passengers more than tripling in a single decade.
04/10/11 Justmeans

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: airports Oct 2011