Last month Schiphol launched theGROUNDS, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol's state-of-the-art platform and testing ground. TheGrounds is designed to facilitate the collaboration of renowned companies and knowledge institutions to develop innovative applications for a sustainable airport. TU Delft, Wageningen UR (University & Research Centre), Imtech and the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) will be the first partners to participate in the initiative. The official launch will also celebrate the opening of theGROUNDS INCUBATOR, the specially developed working location at Schiphol.

 "We developed theGROUNDS to raise our ambition as a leading airport in the area of sustainability and innovation. Our unique collaboration with renowned specialised parties as well as the airport's potential as a location offer important benefits in this regard. As a catalyst, theGROUNDS will help accelerate the development of groundbreaking innovations and new products", according to Jos Nijhuis, President & CEO of Schiphol Group.

theGROUNDS INCUBATOR
A working location has been designed especially for theGROUNDS in The Outlook building at Schiphol Centre. The location, known as theGROUNDS INCUBATOR, offers partners a place to develop and elaborate business cases. "Our focus will be on innovative ideas that can be directly applied to the airport in an economically viable manner", explained Pieter Verboom, Executive Vice President & CFO of Schiphol Group. Wageningen UR, Imtech and TNO were the first organisations to set up shop at the new working location. In future, other companies or knowledge institutions will also have the opportunity to use space at the facility.

Sustainable energy, water and mobility
The first cases to be jointly developed by the above partners are solutions in the area of energy, water management and mobility. For example, TU Delft is working on an electrically powered transportation project, including an innovative parking concept that involves recharging the car while the passenger is travelling on the plane. Imtech focuses on sustainable energy, by means of energy conservation, energy efficiency and sustainable power generation.

Closed, environmentally-friendly water recycling
Schiphol is seeking to develop further its successful microalgae pilot project in theGROUNDS. Microalgae produce oxygen, which degrades glycol (the substance used to de-ice aircraft), in a quick and natural manner. In addition, Schiphol expects to be able to improve further its environmental performance by means of further closing the water recycling circuit. This means that the waste released from biodegradation will serve as food for the microalgae and the residual heat released from the buildings will provide the necessary heating for the microalgae. The purified water can ultimately be recycled and used in the airport's operational processes. Combining the components of waste, water and heating in the airport's processes will enable Schiphol to achieve sustainable water purification.

Helping to create a more sustainable Schiphol
Schiphol has expressed the ambition to become carbon-neutral by 2012 and generate 20% of all its energy requirements sustainably by 2020. The airport is also striving to improve water quality. The innovative applications yielded by theGROUNDS will allow Schiphol to achieve these objectives ahead of schedule.

Previous initiatives towards a more sustainable Schiphol included the application of cold and heat storage in the terminal and at Schiphol Group's head office. Another recent case in point is the TransPort building housing the head offices of transavia.com and Martinair, which was awarded the first BREEAM-NL certificate for sustainable construction in the Netherlands on
15 April this year.

Source: Amsterdam Airport Schiphol