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Congratulations!
A blog by C&S Companies
You’re on your way to incorporating sustainability within your airport and you know it. You’ve crafted a sustainability mission and vision, set sustainability goals and targets, and worked to understand your carbon footprint. Maybe you’ve developed a cutting-edge sustainability plan or achieved a coveted sustainability certification on an especially sustainable project. On the landside, airside, and within the terminal you have worked hard-but…
How will you engage your customers in your sustainability program and demonstrate your sustainable commitments?
How can you ensure your stakeholders understand you’ve transitioned from sustainability goals to tangible results?
And most importantly, how can you engage those stakeholders in continuing your efforts, working together to find new approaches to environmental stewardship?
One solution is Sustainability Wayfinding
Wayfinding, generally, is a set of information systems intended to guide people through a physical environment, providing and enhancing their understanding of a space. Sustainable Wayfinding is the set of systems guiding people through the sustainability story of your airport, enhancing understanding from arrival to jet-bridge boarding.
Traditional wayfinding is a key element to navigating complex urban systems-sustainable wayfinding is a key element to navigating your complex airport system. How do they compare?
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Traditional Wayfinding |
Sustainable Wayfinding |
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Information systems guide people through physical space. |
A sensory-based way to engage stakeholders in your sustainability commitment. |
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Utilizing markers to enhance users’ physical understanding and utilization of spaces. |
Creative use of media making sustainability clear and accessible. |
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Spatial problem solving uses labels and markers to answer, “How can I best utilize this space?”. |
Spatial sustainability problem solving answering, “What responsibility has this airport taken for its own emissions and to be a responsible neighbor in our community?”. |
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Clear/concise route planning to understand complex built environments. |
Economic Viability, Operational Efficiency, Natural Resource Conservation, and Social Responsibility fully integrated into an airport space. |
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Opportunity to build trust with stakeholders by implementing ease in their navigation experience. |
Opportunity to forge sustainability partnerships. |
Just Imagine…
ON THE LANDSIDE—Boarding the subway on the way to the airport and signage is actively engaging, thanking you for taking public transit and being one less car on the road generating carbon emissions. Arriving at the airport, the pathway from the subway to the airport departures area is tidy, organized, and safe.
IN THE TERMINAL—Needing to use the restroom before entering the TSA line and upon entering the restroom facilities seeing signage overviewing the bathroom’s LEED certification and the installed low-flow fixtures. You look up to the beautiful wooden ceiling and see a screen highlighting the local materials utilized for construction and the biomimicry utilized in the design to conserve water and recycle wastewater into the restroom’s living green wall.
ON THE AIRSIDE—Awaiting the departure of your flight, walking the airport fitness loop taking advantage of an airport-provided opportunity to improve physical health and well-being. Utilizing the airport’s yoga and meditation room and pass by an aircraft viewing area where a display screen nearby describes the planes outside are sustainable aviation-fueled (SAF) planes taking off and landing.
By: Mia Held
Senior Aviation Planning and Sustainability Consultant
C&S Companies