The Chicago Department of Aviation honored with the 2015 Jay Hollingsworth Speas Airport Award for its sustainability initiatives

CHICAGO, 2015-2-23 — /Travel PR News/ — The Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA) is pleased to announce it has received the 2015 Jay Hollingsworth Speas Airport Award. The CDA received the award “For embracing sustainability initiatives as essential components of environmental stewardship and becoming an internationally recognized pillar of the green airport movement through launching and hosting the annual Airports Going Green Conference.”

The Jay Hollingsworth Speas Airport Award was established in 1983 by a grant from the Planning Research Corporation (PRC) in memory of Jay Hollingsworth Speas, who was a PRC employee and desired to improve environmental relationships between airports and the communities they served. The Speas Airport Award is co-sponsored by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE) and Airport Consultants Council (ACC).

Jonathan Leach, CDA Chief Operating Officer, accepted the award yesterday on behalf of the CDA during the ACC/AAAE Airport Planning, Design and Construction Symposium in Denver, Colorado. The CDA also received a $7,500 honorarium, which it will donate to the Airports Going Green Sustainability Education Fund. The Sustainability Education Fund is administered by One Million Degrees and advances student education in sustainability- and transportation-related fields through scholarships in the Chicago area.

The CDA extends a special “Thank You” to the Speas family, the AIAA, AAAE, ACC, the Airports Going Green Conference Steering Committee members, conference participants and sponsors, and especially Mr. Jim Elwood, Airport Director of the Jackson Hole Airport, who submitted the nomination. For further information on the Jay Hollingsworth Speas Airport Award, contact AIAA Honors and Awards at carols@aiaa.org.

In addition to receiving the Speas Airport Award,during an awards luncheon Mr. Leach also spoke on a panel at the Symposium. He discussed the CDA’s sustainability initiatives and highlights of the Airports Going Green Conference, which were the basis for the award. The CDA started the Airports Going Green Conference seven years ago and attendance has grown each year. More than 400 attendees participated in 2014, including leaders from 11 different countries and representatives from more than 30 different airports.

The Airports Going Green movement creates an atmosphere where partnerships thrive, not just between airports, but between other organizations, educational institutions, businesses, and governmental agencies. Plan to attend the next Airports Going Green Conference in Chicago in the fall of 2015.

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