The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced Monday LaGuardia Airport’s new Terminal B was awarded Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) v4 Gold certification by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).
The certification makes it the first airline terminal in the world to achieve recognition for its sustainability efforts under the more stringent requirements.
“We are proud to be marking another milestone at Terminal B at LaGuardia Airport with this LEED v4 Gold certification as we continue developing it into the world-class airport our customers deserve,” said Port Authority Chairman Kevin O’Toole. “The Port Authority takes sustainability seriously, and this award sets an important precedent for other airports around the country to follow.”
LEED certification recognizes excellence in sustainability and design construction. Buildings must satisfy requirements to earn one of four LEED rating levels – Certified, Silver, Gold, or Platinum. Rating levels are determined by the number of criteria the buildings achieve. LEED v4 (version 4) adopts more stringent standards, including a baseline energy performance standard; a minimum of 30 percent savings for outdoor water use, as well as all indoor fixtures being certified by the EPA under its WaterSense program; a reduction in embodied carbon and publication of Environmental Product Declarations to disclose the environmental impacts of materials; and minimum standards for ‘low emitting materials’ backed up by laboratory emissions testing.
To achieve its LEED v4 Gold certification, the airport recycled nearly 100 percent of debris from the Terminal B Garage demolition for the new construction. Additionally, the terminal is designed to achieve more than 43 percent water savings and an 18 percent reduction in energy costs. The building achieved energy and greenhouse gas emission reductions by using reduced window glazing area, installing light-colored aluminum membrane roof to reflect solar heat and reduce summer cooling loads, lower lighting power density, deploying daylight controls to adjust artificial lighting levels in response to sunlight, and utilizing solar water heaters.
“Achieving LEED v4 Gold status at Terminal B at LaGuardia Airport under the more stringent version 4 standards underscores our commitment to live up to ever higher sustainability targets as we completely transform LaGuardia from the ground up,” said Port Authority Executive Director Rick Cotton. “We committed in 2018 to meet the Paris Climate Accord standards, and we will continue to upgrade our sustainability targets to be consistent with President Biden’s recent enhanced climate goals.”