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Transportation, Sustainability, Government, North America, United States
Driving Down Emissions
Tracking Greenhouse Gas Emissions Across the Transportation Industry
In today’s busy world, our daily lives require constant activity
and motion. To meet the growing demands of increased travel, commuting and commerce, transportation systems must be altered and expanded. However, increased mobility and larger footprints often bring the threat of higher carbon emissions. In response, we are developing and implementing innovative, user-friendly greenhouse gas (GHG) tracking and reduction systems to increase sustainability and reduce expenses across the transportation industry.
...this opportunity to update INDOT’s modeling capabilities will help the state estimate its emissions and offer reliable, ready-to-use data to its MPOs.
Helping Airports Clear the Air
Reducing carbon footprints is a growing concern—airports must constantly be aware of their emissions to run efficiently, save operating costs and keep their communities clean. To help airport staff of all experience levels find customized GHG reduction solutions, CDM Smith teamed with the Airport Cooperative Research Program of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) to research and design an innovative decision-support tool, handbook and educational training materials to be used by airports of all sizes.
“We were very excited to work with TRB on this project,” comments Jeff Montera, CDM Smith vice president. After supporting numerous TRB research panels and submissions, CDM Smith received this 2-year, $500,000 project as a prime consultant. “This project allowed us to combine our expertise in airport management and global climate change to develop industry-leading research and tools.”
TRB project lead Sia Schatz agrees, “CDM Smith helped make TRB’s Practical Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Strategies for Airports project a great success. They were able to work with a comprehensive panel of airports and industry experts to deliver innovative materials to help airports reduce their carbon footprints right away. CDM Smith has done a remarkable job and delivered the project on time.”
Taking Research to New Heights
To go beyond delivering dense research materials, CDM Smith completed this project in two stages: GHG reduction strategy research and decision-support tool development. “To start, we identified 125 GHG reduction strategies on topics like airfield design, construction and energy management,” explains Kristin Lemaster, CDM Smith principal investigator. “Then, we took a multidisciplinary approach to create a four-page summary and implementation strategy for each topic. It was a huge amount of technical content; the review panel was both happy and surprised that we could provide that much information.”
Helping to categorize this research and implement its findings, CDM Smith designed the Airport Greenhouse Gas Emission Assessment and Reduction (AirportGEAR) software. “This was where we could really take valuable research to the next level,” describes Larry Kelley, CDM Smith senior programmer. “This tool uses a decision-support function with an embedded library to make all of our research and recommendations accessible and meaningful for any user.”
The result is a suite of tools that match GHG reduction strategies with personalized results based on a number of considerations—financial, environmental and regulatory. TRB is in the process of packaging these tools to be shared as a resource across the aviation industry.
On Track for Sustainability
Elsewhere in the industry, CDM Smith is helping the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) perform air quality analysis and GHG planning efforts for the state’s 14 metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs). “The ultimate goal of this project is to develop a set of emission inventories to calculate and support state implementation plans for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),” explains Robert Bostrom, CDM Smith project manager. “We’ll be reviewing data, implementing new software and calculating emissions to support state planning efforts as a resource to the MPOs.”
Steve Smith, INDOT principal transportation planner, is pleased to be working with CDM Smith on this important planning project. “We are impressed with the team that CDM Smith assembled and are eager to move forward with our new, improved tracking and reporting capabilities to support Indiana’s environment.” By developing model travel demand systems for the latest Motor Vehicle Emissions Simulator (MOVES2010) software, CDM Smith is helping set state modeling baselines and implementation plans that the MPOs can use to forecast and reduce critical emissions.
When fully developed, MOVES2010 will estimate average vehicle miles traveled, speed rates and other variables to determine an area’s total number of grams of GHG equivalent emitted per year. These numbers are then used in EPA reporting and state implementation plans. “We’re on a tight budget and quick timeframe,” describes Roberto Miquel, CDM Smith lead modeler. “But this opportunity to update INDOT’s modeling capabilities will help the state estimate its emissions and offer reliable, ready-to-use data to its MPOs. It’s a very meticulous process, but in the end we’ll be helping to reduce emissions statewide and strengthening our relationship with a great client.”
CDM Smith’s innovative AirportGEAR software helps users of all experience levels explore industry-leading research and create customized greenhouse gas reduction strategies.
