Heritage Aviation opened its environmentally green FBO (fixed base operator) at Burlington International Airport in the Green Mountains of Vermont on May 20, 2010. FBO president Chris Hill talked some of the ecologically responsible design elements that architects TruexCullins incorporated into the 79,000 sf LEED Gold certified facility, including one of the largest greenroofs in New England and a parking lot made with pervious pavement. Rainwater is collected in a 35,000-gallon tank and then used for washing airplanes.

“After working closely with the FAA to ensure it posed no risk of interfering with aircraft guidance signals, Heritage Aviation is also the first GA facility in the U.S. to have a community-scale wind turbine on site; it supplements solar panels. Hill told AIN that Heritage expects its annual energy consumption from the grid to be in the region of 600,000 kilowatt-hours instead of the one million kWh it would consume without the wind and solar power-generating equipment,” (Moll, 2010).

The Heritage Flight greenroof was installed on October 30, 2009 using a LiveRoof? Standard System with multiple plant mixes in the design.

The landscape architect and greenroof designer, Jeff Hodgson, partner with H. Keith Wagner Partnership, says “This highly sustainable expansion project re-uses an existing empty hangar as the core for a new building. Careful consideration was given to reduce the impact of this project on the site and the surrounding community infrastructure. The remnants of an existing asphalt parking lot were removed and recycled. In its place a 47,486 square foot permeable concrete parking lot is planned that will filter rainwater, help recharge the ground water and reduce the amount of water entering the storm water system significantly. The roof water of the new building is collected and stored in a 30,000 gallon underground tank to supply water for airplane washing and site irrigation.

“A 12,196 square foot green roof will reduce the heat island effect reducing the cooling and heating needs for the building and providing visual interest for planes above. Photovoltaic panels on the building and a wind turbine will provide a large portion of the energy needed for the building. LED lights are being used for roadway, parking and sidewalk lighting which will significantly reduce the energy needed.”