Template revised April 12, 2018.
COMMISSION
AGENDA MEMORANDUM
Item No.
11a
BRIEFING ITEM
Date of Meeting
April 18, 2023
DATE: March 27, 2023
TO: Stephen P. Metruck, Executive Director
FROM: Sandra Kilroy, Senior Director, Environment & Sustainability
Jane Dewell, Senior Manager, Marine Stormwater Utility
Jeremy Webb, Environmental Program Manager, Aviation Environment &
Sustainability
Tom Fagerstrom, Airport Noise Program Manager
SUBJECT: Sustainable Century and Fly Quiet Awards
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In honor of Earth Day (April 22, 2023), Port staff are pleased to announce winners of the Port’s
2022 Sustainable Century Awards for the Aviation and Maritime Divisions. These awards
recognize our customers, tenants, non-profits, and partners for outstanding accomplishments
in the areas of environment and sustainability. Award winners serve as role models and
demonstrate exceptional leadership in their operations or involvement with Port maritime
facilities and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA). These businesses are key partners in
helping the Port achieve our sustainability goals set forth in the Century Agenda.
Port staff also recognize winners of the Port’s Fly Quiet Awards for airline efforts to reduce
noise at SEA. The annual Fly Quiet Awards were developed by Port staff and a citizen advisory
committee in 2005 to increase airline and pilot awareness of aircraft noise impacts on local
communities.
This year’s award winners include:
Sustainable Century Awards
• Maritime – Lineage Logistics, ECOSS, and Seattle Aquarium
• Aviation – UBER, HMS Host, Delta Airlines, and Southwest Airlines
Fly Quiet
• Air Canada, Frontier Airlines, and Alaska Airlines
MARITIME SUSTAINABLE CENTURY AWARDS
The Maritime Division received three nominations and recognizes all three as award winners
with the following key accomplishments:
COMMISSION AGENDA – Briefing Item No. 11a Page 2 of 6
Meeting Date: April 18, 2023
Template revised September 22, 2016.
Lineage Logistics (Environmental Performance Category)
This award recognizes Lineage Logistics for leadership and investment in energy savings to
support environmental sustainability in the fishing industry. Their achievements include:
• Invested in ambitious energy savings that will reduce energy use by 1.2M kWh/year
when compared with performance of old versus new equipment.
• Projects installed by Lineage include:
o LED lighting in two buildings at Terminal 91 with automatic motion sensors that
adjust lighting,
o New rail dock doors and high-speed roll-up doors on cold storage that reduce
energy loss from freezers, which must maintain a temperature of -15
o
F
o New variable frequency drive compressors and new evaporators that no longer
run 24/7 at 100% but adjust to demand as needed.
• Established a zero-carbon footprint goal by 2040, 10 years earlier than Washington
State mandates for greenhouse gas reductions.
• Lineage provides an excellent model of environmental performance for energy
programs that are relevant to fishery and maritime industrial businesses in the Puget
Sound region.
ECOSS (Environmental Education & Outreach and Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Categories)
This award recognizes ECOSS for leadership in environmental education and outreach, and for
embracing equity, diversity and inclusion in their community programs. Their achievements
include:
• Initiated and led two notable education and outreach programs in 2022 that supported
outdoor education and sustainable natural resource awareness among Black,
Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), immigrant and refugee communities in King
County:
o Led transit-to-parks outings to Little Mount Si in collaboration with Washington
Trails Association, The Wilderness Society, and King County Metro & Parks
departments that introduced over 66 community members ages 4 to 50+ to the
possibilities of hiking in regional natural areas using transit, with multi-lingual
and multi-cultural experience that was beneficial to all participants; and
o Adopted and cared for a habitat restoration site in Seward Park in collaboration
with Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust, Green Seattle Partnership, and
Seward Park Audubon Center that included over 40 participants for two
restoration events that involved plant removal, education/nature walks, and
introducing native species to heal the land;
• In addition to being excellent examples for environmental education and outreach,
these programs exceeded the criteria for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion recognition.
Seattle Aquarium (Environmental Innovation Category, Honorable Mention for Equity,
Diversity & Inclusion)
This award recognizes the Seattle Aquarium for innovative marine research conducted under
the Urban Kelp Research Project. Their achievements include:
COMMISSION AGENDA – Briefing Item No. 11a Page 3 of 6
Meeting Date: April 18, 2023
Template revised September 22, 2016.
• Advancing the understanding of bull kelp populations in the Puget Sound and patterns
of decline and resurgence using three innovative elements:
o Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) survey methodology: using ROV in place of
divers they expanded the area and amount of video data gathered in marine
ecosystems to document kelp, invertebrate and fish abundance, and improved
field methods to survey kelp;
o Artificial Intelligence (AI) analysis: the large amount of video imagery collected
by ROVs is processed using two AI algorithms that analyze for types of marine
life and percent coverage and can generated orders of magnitude more data
compared to traditional methods; and
o Open-access research: sharing research methods and findings with the greater
Puget Sound community and beyond will help advance bull kelp and other
marine ecosystem research and ensure conservation and restoration programs
are effective and efficient.
• In addition, the kelp project received an Honorable Mention for Equity, Diversity,
Inclusion for its partnership with Sea Potential LLC, which exposes BIPOC communities
to maritime careers.
AVIATION SUSTAINABLE CENTURY AWARDS
The Aviation Division received five nominations and selected two winners for the following key
accomplishments:
HMS Host (Environmental Innovation/Performance Categories)
This award recognizes HMS Host’s innovative participation in SEA’s single-use plastic beverage
container reduction pilot project and their use of an alternative filtering and recycling service
for used cooking oil. These two initiatives represent new voluntary actions in 2022 that support
Port waste reduction goals. Their achievements include:
• Collaborating with the Port on a pilot project evaluating alternatives to single-use
plastics for bottled/canned beverages sold at SEA stores. Beginning May 2022, three
Host stores began offering aluminum, glass, or paper alternatives along with traditional
plastic options for various beverages. While the pilot continues in 2023, Host’s willing
partnership shows strong support for an SEA sustainability priority and provides real-
world feedback from SEA suppliers and customers about product availability and
demand that will help reduce single-use plastics;
• Began offering reusable aluminum water bottles in quick-serve and sit-down restaurants
with promotional messaging through a national partnership with a leading provider of
sustainably packaged water (Pathwater);
• Switched to a highly efficient vendor (Filta) for restaurant fryer oil maintenance and
recycling, reducing oil use at SEA by 11,500 lbs., recycling 28,200 lbs. of used oil into
biodiesel, and reducing pressure on SEA’s existing oil collection system;
Additional and ongoing waste reduction efforts included:
COMMISSION AGENDA – Briefing Item No. 11a Page 4 of 6
Meeting Date: April 18, 2023
Template revised September 22, 2016.
• Recycled six pallets of used electronics following computer and register system
upgrades at SEA;
• Converted Starbucks straws to compostable alternatives and switched to innovative bio-
plastic compostable straws (Biolo) at casual-dine units;
• Annually re-use and recycle ~7K pallets and additional amounts of glass, metal, and
cardboard at offsite warehouse, and divert edible food through SEA’s Food Donation
Program to relieve hunger in neighboring communities.
UBER (Environmental Performance Category)
This award recognizes UBER’s significant achievements in advancing electric vehicle (EV) use
and expanding driver access to EV’s at SEA. Electrifying TNCs is a key Port sustainability
strategy to reduce ground transportation emissions, and UBER is a major partner in that effort.
UBER’s nomination highlights significant EV growth and emission reductions in 2022 at SEA
through a broad range of EV-focused partnerships, programs, incentives and investments. SEA
specific achievements include:
• EV rideshare trips at SEA nearly tripled between Q1 and Q4 reaching 8.5%;
• Lowered e-KPI score 17% from Q2 to Q4, reducing CO2 emissions by 2.5M lbs.;
Other global, national, and local sustainability efforts by Uber include:
• Hertz rental partnership offers discounted EV rentals to UBER drivers helping increase
earning opportunities while decreasing emissions. To date, drivers have rented nearly
50K Teslas through the program, completing more than 24M electric trips over 260M
electric miles. The program is available in Seattle and other major cities;
• Total Seattle area EV supply on UBER’s platform increased 350% (owned and rented);
• Worked with EV charging companies to offer driver discounts at public chargers (i.e.,
EVGo) and increased access to at-home chargers (i.e., Enel X);
• Provide in-app charging location information and “EV hub” resources to help drivers
locate charging stations and explore earning and rental opportunities to aid transition to
EVs;
• Provide $1/ride incentive up to $4K annually, paid directly to zero emission vehicle
drivers;
• Added “Comfort Electric”, a new zero-emission offering in Seattle during July 2022, and
continued “Uber Green”, which provides customers EV and hybrid ride options;
• Dedicated $800M through 2025 to help drivers transition to zero emission vehicles;
• Advocated for equitable access to EV charging infrastructure and incentives by lobbying
US DOT since data shows up to 50% of drivers using rideshare apps live in low-income
communities;
• “Rematch” trip matching program reduces emissions by eliminating deadhead pickup
and drop off trips, and SEA ranked in the top-5 of largest N.A. airports in 2022.
COMMISSION AGENDA – Briefing Item No. 11a Page 5 of 6
Meeting Date: April 18, 2023
Template revised September 22, 2016.
The Aviation Division also award two airlines for efforts to reduce emissions using SEA ground
power and pre-conditioned air systems, and highly fuel-efficient aircraft.
Southwest Airlines (Greatest use of airport ground power and pre-conditioned air systems):
• Ground Power: 92% of operations connect to system and longest connectivity while at
gate (81% of turn time);
• Pre-conditioned Air: 65% of operations connect to system and longest connectivity
while at gate (75% of turn time)
Delta Air Lines (Highest percentage use of fuel-efficient aircraft):
• Of the aircraft Delta operated at SEA in 2022, 25% were highly fuel-efficient (up from
16% last year) using Airbus A220s, A321neos, A330neos, and A350s compared to other
high-operating carriers who have closer to 17%.
FLY QUIET AWARDS
Port staff developed the annual Fly Quiet awards in 2005, with input from a citizen advisory
committee, to increase airline and pilot awareness of aircraft noise impacts on local
communities. Fly Quiet was included as a continuing noise program measure in the most recent
Part 150 Noise Study update completed in 2014.
Fly Quiet recognizes airlines based on the following criteria: 1) the sound levels of their
operations using four of the Port’s noise monitors, 2) success at flying within the noise
abatement flight procedures, 3) adhering to SEA’s ground maintenance engine run-up
regulations, and 4) limiting noise levels during late-night hours at SEA. Using these scoring
criteria, two airlines are recognized as the highest achieving carriers, and a third airline is
recognized as having made a significant improvement over the previous year.
Air Canada
• Top scoring Fly Quiet airline for operations in 2022.
• Remarkably low takeoff noise utilizing a modern fleet of quiet Airbus A220 and A320neo
aircraft.
• Fly the established Noise Abatement flight procedures at SEA very accurately.
Frontier Airlines
• High scoring airline with consistently lower noise levels than other domestic carriers.
• Operate the quiet Airbus A320neo at SEA.
• Consistently strong performer in Fly Quiet each year.
Alaska Airlines
• Recognized for undertaking significant improvements to their aircraft fleet in 2022.
• Replaced 30 older A320 model aircraft with new and quiet Boeing 737MAX9 aircraft.
• Lower noise levels for our busiest carrier at SEA.
COMMISSION AGENDA – Briefing Item No. 11a Page 6 of 6
Meeting Date: April 18, 2023
Template revised September 22, 2016.
ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND
The Port has recognized environmental excellence among its business partners as early as 2010
with the Aviation Environmental Excellence and the Maritime Green Gateway awards. Under
the Sustainable Century Awards, both divisions accept nominations for projects, processes, or
actions that promote sustainability leadership in the following categories:
• Environmental Performance
• Environmental Education and Outreach
• Environmental Innovation
• Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
A panel of Port staff review nominations and determine award winners using established
criteria for each nomination-based category. Awards in each category depend on the strength
and quantity of nominations received. The Aviation division also awards airlines for efforts to
reduce GHG emissions by relying on measured use of SEA ground power and pre-conditioned
air systems, and flight operations data. Ground power and pre-conditioned air detection
systems are not available at all SEA gates (unavailable at A & S gates) and measurements are
based on available data. Only airlines with more than 5,000 flight operations at SEA in 2022
were included in the highest percentage of fuel-efficient aircraft use category, as they
represent more than 80% of fuel load.
Port staff will host a celebratory awards luncheon June 1, 2023, from 12:00-1:30 PM at the
Airport’s International Conference Center for award winners. Staff host the event and invite
Port Commissioners and leaders to attend and present winners with commemorative awards,
learn about their accomplishments, and celebrate with attendees.
Concurrent with award announcement, Port staff will launch a publicity campaign
acknowledging this year’s award winners through Port media outlets (i.e., website, social,
digital publications).
ATTACHMENTS TO THIS BRIEFING
(1) Presentation slides
PREVIOUS COMMISSION ACTIONS OR BRIEFINGS
April 26, 2022 – Announced 2020-2021 award winners (Item #11b)
Sustainable Century Awards:
Maritime: Fishermen’s Finest, SSA Marine/Carrix, WHOOSHH Innovations
Aviation: Bellair Airporter Shuttle, Southwest Air Lines, Delta Air Lines
Fly Quiet: Spirit Airlines, Frontier Airlines, EVA Airways
