Terminal 4 at the John F. Kennedy International Airport receives LEED Gold certification

Terminal 4 (T4) at the John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York City, has been awarded the Washington-based U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC’s) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification.

The LEED rating system, developed by the USGBC, is the foremost program for buildings, homes and communities that are designed, constructed, maintained and operated for improved environmental and human health performance. Terminal 4 received this certification with help of CodeGreen Solutions, a consulting firm headquartered in New York City that provided energy and sustainability consulting through the certification process.

“Receiving LEED Gold certification is an incredible accomplishment for T4,” Gert-Jan de Graaff, president and CEO of JFK International Air Terminal LCC (JFKIAT), the company which operates Terminal 4, says. “This certification is the culmination of hundreds of hours of hard work and recognizes our efforts to lead the way in environmental protection and energy savings, and our dedication to improving environmental quality for our employees, airlines, partners and more than 21 million annual passengers. We are thankful for our environmental consultant and partner, CodeGreen Solutions, for working alongside us through this process for more than a year.”

The LEED Gold certification recognizes T4 as one of the top performers in the world in energy management, water efficiency, air quality, waste management and green cleaning. Through improvements in operations and maintenance, T4 has recycled 45 percent of total waste through its waste management program initiatives, including composting restaurant food waste and collecting cardboard, grease and building materials. T4 has a 30 percent increase in performance as compared to other airport terminals in energy management and uses 34 percent less water than comparable buildings.

“It’s been great to see how dedicated the T4 team is to sustainability and efficient operations,” Jonathon Matle of CodeGreen says. “When we first partnered with JFKIAT, we were impressed at the robust energy efficiency and sustainability program already in place; LEED certification is a way to recognize that hard work and build on it. We are extremely proud to be a part of this historic achievement.”

Terminal 4 opened in 2001 as a joint venture between the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, New York City, and JFKIAT. Since then, the terminal has grown from serving six million passengers per year to its current state of operation, which has an annual passenger volume of more than 21 million travelers.