San Francisco Aims for LEED with Greener Skies

San Francisco International Airport's new Terminal 2 (Courtesy SFIA)

San Fran is aiming high when it comes to its newest airport terminal, slated to be the first LEED-Gold terminal in the states. The 640,000-square-foot terminal will be home to American Airlines and Virgin America (yep, even the Virgin Galactic space flights) at San Francisco International Airport, and will begin welcoming flights this week.

Featuring paperless ticketing, special hybrid and electric car parking and more fresh, local food vendors that offer organic and sustainable options, the terminal is designed for optimum indoor air quality with less energy consumption. Efficiency regulations will also be put into place, mandating the recycling of 90 percent of solid waste by 2020, requiring food vendors to use biodegradable tableware and composting.

I just love the greening of airports, especially the recent LEED Gold certification of India's mammoth Indira Gandhi International, designed to transport a whopping 34 million travelers per year (details here).

Gotta love the "hydration station," pictured above