Airport branded green by international real estate association

In a move that has long-time critics scratching their heads at just how green the airport can truly be, Aéroports de Montréal (ADM), the federally appointed authority which runs Pierre-Elliot Trudeau International in Dorval, was recently awarded a certificate marking the environmental friendliness of its terminal building.

"This is a certification that attests ADM's efforts in terms of environmental management. It is a credible testimony based on an external and objective evaluation," said Josée Piédalue, public affairs advisor for the airport.

Called Go Green Plus, the certificate is awarded by BOMA Quebec, the local branch of BOMA (Building Owners and Managers Association) International, a network of real estate owners and managers across the world.

The ADM is a member of BOMA Quebec, according to Piédalue, and that is how they learned of the certificate in the first place.

To earn the Go Green Plus certificate, the candidate in question must demonstrate high standards in a number of different fields, according to BOMA Quebec's website. These include energy consumption, reduction in water consumption, the quality of air, lighting and noise in an interior environment, and environmental management.

However, members of the Green Coalition, an environmental activist group which has butted heads with the ADM over the last few years over issues such as increases in night flights or construction over the Golf Dorval territory, questioned the certificate's meaning.

"An environmental award to ADM for a building while it is responsible for the destruction of thousands of trees in a green space (Golf Dorval) that is not required for airport operations is incredibly cynical," Paul Wilkinson said.

As the airport has in the past, Piédalue rejected the notion its use of Golf Dorval, the course owned by the airport but leased to the city of Dorval, is environmentally damaging. "Our ecological surveys and forest inventories indicate that this lot consists essentially of artificial land with little ecological value," she said.

"The airport and its buildings do not exist in a vacuum," said Wilkinson's colleague Avrom Shtern. "They serve the airline industry which energy-wise is not very efficient," he said.

The airport's BOMA certificate is the second sign of recognition for environmental management the ADM has received from an external body. In 2000, it was awarded an ISO 14001 certificate for environmental management.

BOMA Quebec could not be reached for comment as of press time.