TRB Highlights – Aviation

01.30.2012 | Philip M. DeVita, CCM |

One of the highlights of the TRB Annual Meeting that I look forward to each year is the AV030 sessions on aviation and environmental impacts.  HMMH’s president, Mary Ellen Eagan, does a great job in pulling these sessions together to allow the subcommittees to present an update on progress and highlight emerging “hot button” issues.   This year sessions did not disappoint with a very interesting student presentation on “Bird Aircraft Strike Risk Assessment at Commercial Airports: Sub-Model Development Accounting for Strike Occurrence and Severity at Seattle Tacoma International Airport”.

The climate change subcommittee provided an update on climate change issues affecting aviation, including an update from the summer Woods Hole Conference which focused on climate change adaptation and planning.  With the changing climate, airports are starting to focus on the potential impacts of climate change and incorporating these impacts into the master planning.  Some of the issues included in the planning include rising sea water, stormwater and severe weather. There was also an entertaining discussion with attendees on other topics of concern such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions, renewable energy, energy efficiency and the role of alternate fuels.  The climate change discussion supports the activities of HMMH’s Climate and Energy Group with the release of the “Technical Guidance for Evaluating Selected Solar Technologies on Airports” and the ACRP Synthesis, “Investigating Safety Impacts of Energy Technologies on Airports and Aviation”.  With renewable energy becoming a viable alternative to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, the impact on aviation is becoming a growing concern and HMMH’s experience in this area is helping the aviation industry address these concerns.