“Green” terminals: the Italian state of the art. Qualitative overview of the current situation in core network airports

Abstract

The paper reports the results of a study that was aimed at revealing the state of the art of green terminal design in Italy. The Italian airport network was reorganized in 2013 leading to a classification in core and comprehensive networks. The survey involved the ten infrastructures of the core network. A brief introduction of the network is provided in the paper.
The importance of green terminal design is due to the very short life cycle of passenger terminals (10-20 years). Moreover, the entire airport has a great impact on the environment. The European strategy, both in the construction and in the transportation industry, is focused on a sustainable approach both in the project design and in operation. Besides environmental sustainability, of course, social and economic sustainability have to be considered in airport planning and terminal design.
The study has been structured with reference to some key issues in the green approach. These were used to formulate a survey, that consisted of qualitative and quantitative questions. The aim has been to obtain a synthetic but efficient picture of the state of the art of Italian green terminal design, made by the technical departments of the airports themselves.
The study reveals a static situation concerning the level of sustainability of passenger terminals and an attention to sustainability topics which is not at a competitive level. While international airports are growing in competitiveness, adopting new and innovative green architectural technologies, in Italy the process is slower. The present airport terminals are, in most cases, old buildings, despite the fact that in other countries the life cycle of these structures is quite short. In fact, a terminal life cycle usually ends with the end of the effectiveness of the terminal itself. Italian Airports are now slowly recognizing the environmental, economic, and social importance of a sustainable approach in terminal design, while in other countries this is already considered a real challenge.