GALAPAGOS-ENVIRONMENT/GREEN AIRPORT Galapagos Islands gets world's first "green" airport accreditation

Record ID: 146910

  • Title: GALAPAGOS-ENVIRONMENT/GREEN AIRPORT Galapagos Islands gets world's first "green" airport accreditation
  • Date: 16th July 2015
  • Summary: SANTA CRUZ, GALAPAGOS ISLANDS, ECUADOR (JULY 15, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF COMMERCIAL FLIGHT LANDING AT GALAPAGOS' ECOLOGICAL AIRPORT VARIOUS OF PASSENGERS IN TERMINAL AREA PASSENGERS GOING THROUGH MIGRATION AT TERMINAL PRESIDENT OF ECOGAL CORPORATION, EZEQUIEL BARRENECHEA, IN TERMINAL (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PRESIDENT OF ECOGAL CORPORATION, EZEQUIEL BARRENECHEA, SAYING: "T
  • Embargoed: 31st July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Ecuador
  • Country: Ecuador
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA55WFER5N24V7HZ6099MYT2XX2
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Ecuador's pristine Galapagos Islands can boast a new honour to its environmental credential, the world's first "green" airport.
    Located on the island of Baltra, the Galapagos Ecological Airport is completely powered by solar and wind power with 80% of its infrastructure made from material recycled from its old airport.
    With few fresh water sources on the island of Baltra, the airport has its own seawater desalination plant to supply fresh water to its terminal.
    Such are the airport's environmental credentials that it has received the US Green Building Council's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certificate for sustainable constructions.
    But the award did not come easy, with the year-and-a-half construction of the airport meticulously supervised.
    "There were many challenges from a logistical point of view. First, with the sustainable construction certification a number of features needed to be taken into consideration, not just the design but all the construction and here it was very difficult. Tanker ships were brought with water because water could not be drawn from the sea for building. The reality was that it was a difficult year and a half of international inspectors watching over every centimetre of the work. The truth is that I'm very proud of what we have achieved and we're very happy about that," said Ezequiel Barrenechea, from the Ecogal Corporation which runs the airport.
    In recent years, environmentalists have expressed concern about the state of Ecuador's Galapagos islands as it balances booming tourism and immigration and fragile environmental ecosystem.
    But airport manager, Jorge Rocillo, told Reuters the airport fulfils its purpose.
    "The main thing is that it's a sustainable building, a public building that can balance technology and adequate comfort for passengers without polluting the environment. This is basically the legacy we want to give," he said.
    And tourists visiting the island have given the airport a green thumbs up.
    "I think it's exciting that it's here in the Galapagos which is itself a very unique place in the world and which has so much that deserves to be protected and maintained. And, as a biology teacher-- I teach high school biology-- this is a big deal to me personally because this is what I try to teach my students, to protect the world and keep it safe," said Carrie Bilodeau of the United States.
    The volcanic islands of the Galapagos, located 1050 km (625 miles) west of Ecuador's coast, inspired British naturalist Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.
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