Airports Council International (ACI) announced last week that Miami International Airport has earned the agency’s Airport Carbon Accreditation (ACA), which recognizes MIA’s verified dedication to reducing greenhouse gas emissions within its operational control and its commitment to expanding its climate goals and reduction targets. MIA will receive its accreditation certificate on September 9 at the 2024 ACI-North American Annual Conference and Exhibition in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
MIA is one of only two airports in Florida and four in the Southeast U.S. accredited by ACI’s global ACA program. MIA’s sustainability goals are based on Miami-Dade County’s commitment to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Race to Zero Program and The Climate Action Strategy, which calls on MIA to reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions by 50% by 2030. MIA’s resilience goals include elevating its Level 1 ACA accreditation (Mapping) to Level 2 (Reduction) by demonstrating that it is reducing its carbon footprint with measures such as increasing its removal and disposal of contaminated soil; increasing its recycling and waste reduction; reducing electricity usage; reducing fuel consumption with newly purchased electric vehicles; reducing carbon emissions by adjusting the usage of emergency generators; and achieving Level 1 accreditation at Miami-Dade County’s four general aviation airports.
Under the leadership of Mayor Cava and Miami-Dade Aviation Department (MDAD) Director and CEO Ralph Cutié, MIA has implemented historic energy conservation and sustainability measures at the County’s largest economic engine over the last four years.
In late 2020, MDAD and Florida Power and Light Services (FPLS) completed Phase II of its Sustainability Project at MIA, the largest energy conservation project in the State of Florida and one of the largest in the eastern United States. Through the installation of $45 million in energy-efficient lighting, domestic water, heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system upgrades, the project eliminated the presence of R-22 refrigerant in the HVAC systems and mercury vapors in the lighting systems at MIA. Thanks to the groundbreaking project, MIA is saving $3.2 million in electricity and water costs annually – enough to fuel 4,856 cars and fill 16 Olympic-sized pools every year until 2035.
Most recently, the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners approved a contract with FPLS in December 2023 that will install $547 million in electrical infrastructure upgrades such as zero-emissions equipment and net-zero backup power generators at MIA over the next 20 years. The airport is also moving forward with a $130-million project to renovate its entire terminal roof with solar power panels by 2030.
According to ACI World, the ACA program is the only institutionally endorsed, global carbon management certification for airports. It independently assesses and recognizes the efforts of airports to manage and reduce their carbon emissions through seven levels of certification: Mapping, Reduction, Optimization, Neutrality, Transformation, Transition, and Level 5. ACA is also the only global, airport-specific carbon standard that relies on internationally recognized methodologies.
To apply for certification at one of the seven levels of the program, airports must have their carbon footprints independently verified by one of the verifiers approved by the program administrator in accordance with the International Organization of Standardization (ISO) Standard 14064 (Greenhouse Gas Accounting).