ACRP IdeaHub Ideas

Objective is to develop airport-specific design guidelines and best practices for airport terminals and passenger facilities to make them accessible to all persons.

Review the tools and practices currently being used to conduct airfield pavement conditions.

Further guidance on how to approach the design of airport infrastructure that is more resilient to climatic change is required. Efforts are underway both nationally and internationally to address identification of vulnerabilities and incorporating into planning documents; but there remains a gap in procedures to evaluate and determine design criteria for engineers and architects that may be more readily endorsed by funding... more »

Develop a simplified airport emissions inventory tool for criteria pollutants.

The objectives of this research project are to:
• Create an electronic resources library – preferably a website. This searchable electronic library should provide an inventory of available publications including the abstracts and index of ACRP research documents and non-ACRP research documents related to airside planning, design and operations.
• Recommend a process for keeping the website up-to-date.
• Identify which... more »

The objective of this research is to create a database of performance benchmarks for airport facilities. Airport staff need a better understanding of key operational metrics associated with building performance in order to improve efficiency, decrease operating costs, and reduce environmental impacts. A standard system which normalizes for weather, location, carbon intensity of utility supplied energy, and airport specific... more »

Establish if and how recycled (pyrolyzed) carbon fibers can be used in place of virgin carbon fibers for achieving comparable performance at lower material costs.

Guidance on holisitic master planning that goes beyond just future

facility and infrastructure that includes the sub categories such as IT,

Operations, Security and Maintenance as examples. It would also provide guidance on how to develop a "plan" for the ancillary operating areas and how important components may be rolled into a true master plan

The objective of this research is to create a guidebook of Aircraft Characteristics. The first step is a synthesis that summarizes the data sources available for determining Aircraft Characteristics for airport planning, design, construction, and operation. The characteristics would include at a minimum Aircraft Approach Category (AAC), Airplane Design Group (ADG), Taxiway Design Group (TDG), wingspan, tail height, length,... more »

Develop a guidebook for use by airport owners, airlines, third party developers, consultants, and contractors regarding the current landscape of airport project delivery systems and their suitability for various types of projects and airport ownership models.

The proposed research project would evaluate carbon removal strategies that could be deployed at airports to help achieve "Net Zero Emissions" in order to align with global emission reduction targets and to address increasing public scrutiny. Carbon removal strategies include both natural (e.g., tree plantings and agricultural soil management) and technological approaches (e.g., carbon-absorbing concrete and direct air... more »

Sustainability and environmental mitigation are rapidly being incorporated into construction efforts at airports to mitigate and offset environmental impacts such as air emissions, water quality issues, etc. Naturally, every airport and their associated construction efforts and ability to incorporate sustainability vary on multiple fronts. This effort would provide a synthesis of construction sustainability and environmental... more »

Develop guidance and best practices that will inform capital asset and new/replacement/renewal project managers on how to ensure that maintenance departments are capable of properly maintaining the assets and immediately assuming responsibility for them after project completion/turnover. These recommendations will focus on the accurate, effective, and timely development and delivery of capital project assets and asset... more »

Many airports have air traffic control tower (ATCT) facilities that were constructed more than 50 years ago and despite renovation and rehabilitation efforts, they are reaching the end of their useful life. Some do not meet updated FAA siting and design criteria, and other state-of-art practices. NATCA conducted a survey in 10 years ago (2007) that indicated over two-thirds of the ATCTs were rated as having fair to poor... more »

By understanding what other airports are doing in the very wide subject area of sustainability, it may spur airports to try different means of conserving energy, recycling materials, or otherwise improving its sustainability practices. By looking not only at the practices, but the results, the challenges to implementation, and the costs of implementation, airports will be provided with guidance to improve their practices... more »