Project Description

Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport’s South Deicing Facility has earned an Envision Verified award for sustainable infrastructure from ISI. This project provides a new deicing facility on the south side of the airfield that can accommodate a variety of aircraft sizes and quantities. The development of a new stormwater system that meets pre-treatment requirements and sanitary sewer discharge constraints is also a key component of the project.

The design of the facility, which provides additional deicing capability to ATL in times of inclement winter weather, reflected ATL’s commitment to sustainability. The airport previously became the first to be certified under the International Standards Organization’s (ISO) 50001 Energy Management Standard. ATL’s use of Envision also aligns with the airport’s 2035 Sustainable Management Plan with its focus on integrating sustainability into how the airport conducts business, makes decisions and operates its divisions to achieve overall financial, environmental, operational and social success.

“Congratulations to Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport on earning Envision Verified for the South Deicing Facility,” said Kailey Eldredge, ISI’s Verification Director. “A credit to the owner and the entire project team, the new facility adds to the long list of initiatives that ATL has carried out to advance sustainability goals in upgrading and advancing critical infrastructure.”

“Earning the Envision Verified award reflects our steadfast focus on embedding sustainability into every facet of airport operations,” said Dr. Quinta Warren, Sr. Director of Sustainability at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport. “The South Deicing Facility exemplifies how we’re aligning infrastructure development with our 2035 Sustainable Management Plan and progressing toward our goal of net zero emissions by 2050.”

Project Scope

Key components of this project include:

• 200,000 square yards of airfield pavement
• Raw product deicer storage and dispensing facilities and surrounding pavement.
• Operations building and surrounding pavement.
• Deicer-impacted stormwater management including diversion structures, online monitoring, storage tanks, pH adjustment and odor control, as well as sanitary sewer discharge.
• First-flush collection system.
• Jet blast deflectors.
• Associated utilities including water, sanitary and stormwater drainage and post-construction stormwater detention.
• Retaining walls at base of ASR-9 tower.

The sustainability achievements on the project are explained in more detail below.

Verified Sustainability Achievements

Foster Leadership and Teamwork – The project team used a variety of processes and management controls to ensure sustainability was integrated into the design process. LEED and Envision were used to organize, support and structure the effort to make the design of the deicing facility more sustainable. Construction, operations and maintenance team members were included in design meetings and they continued to be included as the project entered the construction phase.

Reduce Construction Waste – The project team developed specifications that included administrative and procedural requirements for salvaging, recycling and disposing of nonhazardous construction and demolition waste. Both the facilities- and apron project components targeted construction and demolition waste diversion rate of 90%. The contractors were required to develop construction waste management plans and submit recurring waste reduction progress reports. The actual percentage of waste diversion for the project is 98%.

Improve Infrastructure Integration – The project reduces the risk of systemic failure by expanding deicing capacity during inclement weather. By doing so, it reduces potential impacts to the broader air traffic system from delays and cancellations. In addition, the project’s stormwater infrastructure is designed to exceed minimum drainage standards and leverage the existing drainage system which reduces airfield and landside flood risk, improves airfield safety, and enhances pavement durability.

Enhance Public Health and Safety – While ensuring the building and the ramp met the required minimum safety design standards, the project team also coordinated with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regarding changes in airfield operations and design elements to accommodate safety concerns. Additionally, the project team conducted numerous Safety Risk Management panels to ensure that safety was a consideration for the site and the immediate surroundings.

Plan for Sustainable Communities – The project incorporated sustainability principles into project selection and identification through an assessment of sustainability indicators, an alternative analysis, and early planning assessments that considered the broader impacts of the project on long-term sustainability and the airport community. This included reviewing the airport’s plans and projected aircraft fleet mix to ensure consistency with planned development at ATL. As a result, this project not only increases the number of deicing pads, allowing for more flight operations, but also accommodates the changing aircraft fleet mix to support larger aircraft. This supports the future of aircraft operations at ATL — one of the world’s busiest airports — which currently sees up to 336 departures per day.