The Juan Santamaria International Airport became the first airport in Central America to get the Airport Carbon Accreditation in Mapping level, which is awarded by the Airports Council International and ratifying the commitment of the airport administrator, AERIS, with Costa Rica and the environment.

“The Airport Carbon Accreditation is empowering Airports’ efforts to make further strides in managing, reducing and ultimately neutralizing their carbon footprint”, explains the organization’s website.

Around the world only 85 airports have received this accreditation, out of these, only 12 are located in Latin America and the Caribbean.

“We are very proud to be part of a select group of airports worldwide, we are already passed the first level and our objective is to continue growing and contributing to the country goal of Carbon Neutrality”, commented Rafael Mencia, Executive Director of AERIS.

Airport Carbon Accreditation recognizes and accredits the efforts of airports to manage and reduce their carbon emissions. There are four levels of certification: ‘Mapping’, ‘Reduction’, ‘Optimization’ & ‘Neutrality’.

The ‘Mapping’ step of Airport Carbon Accreditation requires carbon footprint measurement, which means determining the emissions sources, collecting data and calculating the annual carbon emissions and compiling a carbon footprint report; once this is achieved, the airport needs to engage an independent third party to verify the report before submission, to ensure that the carbon footprint calculation is in accordance with ISO14064 and accreditation requirements.

It took three years of efforts for the Juan Santamaria Airport to successfully get the accreditation in this first level; the next step is reduction which involves requires carbon management and progress towards a reduced carbon footprint.

“We have already began to work in energy saving measures supported by technology with the lighting system and the air conditioning systems for example. This efforts will be also evident in the new domestic terminal which has the LEED Certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)”, confirmed Adriana Bejarano from Aeris.