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The program has \u201cput a lens\u201d on those conversations and about other elements of sustainability, Tobler said. \u201cTalking about propulsion systems and specifically our carbon impact from jet fuel is top of mind for everyone. But there’s a lot of other conversations that are going on here about waste management and about energy,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
For example, Tobler noted flight departments have had conversations about never seeing a utility bill in the time they\u2019ve owned or leased hangars but believing they can help resource renewable energy. Now they are developing relationships with their utility providers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re all learning as an industry,\u201d D\u2019Leon furthered.<\/p>\n
NBAA\u2019s accreditation program is just one of numerous programs available on the sustainability front. The National Air Transportation Association has a Sustainability Standard for Aviation Businesses program, and the European Business Aviation Association developed a Standards & Training for Aviation Responsibility and Sustainability (STARS) initiative that\u2019s modeled after an Airports Council International initiative, among others.<\/p>\n
![\"Scott](\"https:\/\/www.ainonline.com\/sites\/ainonline.com\/files\/styles\/ain30_fullwidth_large\/public\/scott_cutshall-m-web.jpg?itok=mj5eJ7YL\")
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Whether through accreditation, another industry program, parent company collaboration, or forging an individual path, Scott Cutshall, Clay Lacy Aviation’s senior v-p of development and sustainability, advises that organizations should \u201cjust start.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cutshall has provided numerous presentations, including at\u00a0AIN<\/strong>\u2019s own Building A Sustainable Flight Department regional forums held in 2021 and 2022, on how industry organizations can move forward. The first thing he tells people is to think broader than the environment and think about what\u2019s doable.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen someone says sustainability, most people in their mind immediately go to environmental. But there’s also the social aspect and the economic aspect of sustainability. You can take a bunch of actions to be very environmentally friendly, but if that causes economic harm to the company, eventually the company won’t be around to be environmentally friendly,\u201d Cutshall said.<\/p>\n He noted the many questions he receives on cost and said, \u201cif it costs too much, then just don’t take that action. But what about the seven other actions that don’t cost anything? I think the first thing I tell people is you have to take a holistic view and there are 5,000 things I can do to be environmentally friendly and more sustainable.”<\/p>\n The industry is not asking organizations to jump into all sustainable means immediately, but rather \u201cjust start. If every company just started taking action on operating more sustainably, then the collective impact would be enormous.\u201d<\/p>\n To begin with, companies can determine what their Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions are.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s kind of like when you decide to exercise,\u201d he explained. \u201cIf a person wants to lose 10 pounds they have to get on the scale to see where they are and whether they will achieve their goal down the road. By stepping on the scale\u2014[to determine] your Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions\u2014then you know where you are and then you can start to make plans to reduce them.\u201d<\/p>\n Cutshall noted that a lot of resources are available to help accomplish that task. \u201cIf somebody was to Google how to measure my carbon footprint, there’s a lot of resources out there.\u201d In addition, NBAA has been developing management resources to help walk organizations through such efforts.<\/p>\n Generally speaking, Scope 1 involves direct emissions derived from an organization\u2019s own facilities and vehicles or controlled sources. This could be fuel burned from ground surface equipment, heating oil used in facilities, or even an FBO\u2019s courtesy vehicles, Cutshall explained.<\/p>\n Scope 2 is indirect emissions from purchased energy, such as electricity. Beyond that is Scope 3, which\u00a0is less in control of an organization but represents emissions that occur in a company\u2019s value chain\u00a0both upstream and downstream.<\/p>\n Once an organization can determine its footprint\u2014Cutshall said to focus on Scope 1 and 2 because 3 is not in direct control of the company\u2014\u201cthe first thing that everybody can do is offset those emissions. They can buy carbon offsets to offset those emissions.\u201d<\/p>\n That makes a company carbon-neutral from the beginning. However, he stressed the offsets are not the end solution. \u201cIt’s intended to be a bridge,\u201d because the company has not yet reduced its emissions.<\/p>\n Step two is looking at how to reduce emissions. \u201cIdeally we would eliminate our emissions completely,\u201d Cutshall said, but acknowledged\u00a0that is a long-term goal. In the interim, organizations should ask what options are widely available or that can be implemented more immediately.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I’m looking to reduce my electricity, can I put motion sensors so that if somebody leaves a room and forgets to turn off the light, it goes off automatically? Can I change light bulbs to LEDs because we know LEDs burn less electricity than incandescent bulbs or fluorescent bulbs,\u201d he suggested.<\/p>\n Cutshall added that FBOs may not be able to reduce ground vehicle use, but may be able to look at renewal diesel, which is \u201ca drop-in fuel. You don’t have to change your trucks, you don’t have to do anything. You’re just buying a different product.\u201d Further, he continued, \u201cIf you have courtesy vehicles, can you replace one with an electric vehicle? [Can you] get rid of single-use plastics with things that are compostable and recyclable?\u201d<\/p>\n The bottom line, Cutshall said, \u201cThere are lots of ways to reduce your emissions. And the goal is once you know what your emissions are, you’ve taken actions to reduce your emissions, then you offset what’s left over and then you start the process over again.\u201d<\/p>\n The idea is to decrease emissions over time so the amount that is offset gets smaller and smaller every year. \u201cThe holy grail is I don’t have to buy offsets anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n Clay Lacy began taking this approach in 2019, putting together a three-year plan on steps it would take to reduce its emissions.<\/p>\n True to his advice, Cutshall said its efforts have not been a \u201chuge financial burden on the company.\u201d Most of the costs have surrounded the time and energy focused on transitioning to greener options.\u00a0As an example, Clay Lacy has switched a couple of locations from diesel to renewable diesel. The costs were the same. \u201cThere was zero financial impact to the company, but it significantly reduced our emissions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n It also has transitioned some ground service equipment to electric, activated a 500kw solar array at its headquarters, sourced renewable resources for its electricity at its John Wayne Airport facility in California, offered carbon offsets for its management clients, sold SAF to clients, conducted a waste recycling program, and changed from plastic water bottles to boxed water, among other efforts. It was certified as a member of the Environmental Protection Agency\u2019s Green Power Partnership and it gets the claim to be the first recognized under NATA\u2019s Sustainability Standard for Aviation Businesses program.<\/p>\n Cutshall said the benefits of these efforts have been tangible. The company has lowered its emissions by 35 percent. As importantly, the aviation business chain is seeing a culture shift. \u201cMore and more people throughout the company are wanting to contribute to the company’s actions. And I think that’s a great thing to see the buy-in from people,\u201d he said, adding they are pitching in on new ideas to help the efforts.<\/p>\n Another significant benefit has been recruiting. \u201cWhen we ask candidates that are in the interview process, \u2018what attracted you to Clay Lacy,\u2019 we’re starting to hear, \u2018I saw that you have a sustainability program.\u2019 So, from a recruiting standpoint, it’s something that job seekers are starting to pay attention to.\u201d<\/p>\n Jo Damato, senior v-p of education, training, and workforce development for NBAA, agreed that sustainability initiatives are bringing benefits in workforce development. \u201cWe’re definitely seeing this conversation connecting the generations and actually showing that we are looking to our new entrants into the field to help us and to educate us because they’ve been exposed to this at a much earlier time than we have. Within the industry, it seems to be one of the main conversation starters.\u201d<\/p>\n If the industry is going to attract new people, then it must consider value alignment, Damato continued. \u201cA lot of our young people really know\u2026what are my values and how am I willing to spend my 40 hours a week plus with an organization to know that that is amplifying my values versus crushing them. I think they’re looking at that.\u201d Those looking at a career in business aviation want to reconcile their passion for environmental concerns and sustainability. \u201cThey’re figuring out how to marry those things and they’re getting excited about it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n NBAA’s D\u2019Leon added: \u201cWe’re all on an even playing field. So whether you’ve been in this industry for 40 years or you’re just stepping into this industry, we’re all really learning and coming up at the same time, which gives us the opportunity to come to the table from a variety of generations within our career fields and all have a seat at the table and be leaders in this space.”<\/p>\n Along those lines, Cutshall provided another piece of advice. \u201cYou don’t have to do it alone. There’s a lot of resources.\u201d Pointing to the NBAA program, he said, \u201ceven if you decide not to go through the accreditation, [the association] published the complete blueprint of how to start acting more sustainably. NATA has a sustainability audit checklist that you can go download from their website for free.\u201d<\/p>\n Cutshall pointed out that business aviation is a community. \u201cCall other people in the industry and ask, what are you doing?\u201d But bring others to the table both within and outside the organization, he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As NBAA rolled out its Sustainable Flight Department Accreditation program, the organization strived to take a holistic approach toward sustainability. Electric, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), and more efficient flight operations and aircraft are widely viewed as central steps for a greener path. But industry leaders also readily agree that they are among numerous steps that …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2394,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[102,88],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-en","category-flights"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Stewart](\"https:\/\/www.ainonline.com\/sites\/ainonline.com\/files\/styles\/ain30_fullwidth_large\/public\/stewart-dleonweb.jpg?itok=06p_Qsl7\")
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