SFO Marks Native American Heritage Month and Recognized for Going Green

San Francisco International Airport recognizes Native American Heritage Month with a special dedication ceremony and the airport recieve multiple accolades for its proactive eco-friendly strategies.

It’s a widely known fact that California oftentimes leads the nation with regard to social justice and environmental initiatives, as exemplified by them being the first to legalize medical marijuana and institute the plastic bag ban, for instance. And no city more embodies that progressive spirit than the queer capital of San Francisco. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that even the city’s airport is receiving national recognition for embracing these core values, as detailed below.

The San Francisco International Airport (SFO) celebrated Native American Heritage Month with a dedication ceremony for a plaque to acknowledge that the Ramaytush Ohlone people are the original inhabitants of the land where SFO currently stands. The event, which was held on November 9, was attended by Airport leadership and members of the Association for the Ramaytush Ohlone. The plaque is located in a pre-security connecting walkway between Terminals 2 and 3.

“Native American Heritage Month is an opportunity for us to honor the history of our region,” said Airport Director Ivar C. Satero. “With this plaque installation, we acknowledge that the Ramaytush Ohlone were the original occupants of the land where SFO sits today and invite travelers from around the world to learn the history of the first people to call the San Francisco Bay Area home.”

The Ohlone people lived in Northern California from the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula down to the northern region of Big Sur, and from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Diablo Range in the east. The Ohlone formed a complex association of approximately 50 different “nations or tribes” with about 50 to 500 members each. The Ramaytush language is one of eight Ohlone languages spoken by the people who inhabited the land, now known as the San Francisco Peninsula, for hundreds of years.

In addition to recognizing the local Native Americans, SFO also recently received multiple awards and honorable mentions from Airports Going Green (AGG), which is the aviation industry’s leading forum on sustainability led by the Chicago Department of Aviation and co-hosted by the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE).

At the fifteenth annual forum, SFO was awarded for its Outstanding Sustainability Program for its electrification action plan for existing buildings and for its Outstanding Infrastructure Development for Harvey Milk Terminal 1, Boarding Area B.

“Thanks to Airports Going Green, our industry can work together to achieve the future of green air travel,” said Ivar C. Satero when asked to for comment. “These awards celebrate the passion and commitment of our entire SFO team and encourage us to keep pushing the boundaries of what’s possible.”

SFO’s Electrification Action Plan is a pioneering, collaborative effort to fuel-switch existing Terminal and Non-Terminal buildings that use natural gas to all-electric, which represents approximately 15 million square feet of campus. The Plan is designed to be concise and actionable, identifying key stakeholders and time-bound tasks so electrification retrofit projects can be implemented; monitored for progress; and adapted based on changing regulatory, resource, and financial constraints. By retrofitting existing buildings to be all-electric, SFO will demonstrate to the local community, aviation industry, and building sector that this work is both possible and necessary to meet climate goals. SFO’s has a strategic goal to reach zero net carbon by 2030. Currently, natural gas consumption accounts for 90% of SFO’s airport-controlled climate emissions as outlined in the FY21 Climate Action Plan.

SFO’s Harvey Milk Terminal 1 is the first airport terminal in the world to earn “Platinum” certification using the latest standards from the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program developed by the U.S. Green Building Council. This latest version, known as LEED v4, raises the bar for the design, construction, and operation of high-performance structures. SFO earned this certification for Boarding Area B in Harvey Milk Terminal 1, which includes the 25-gate concourse, post-security concession space, and integrated connector to the U.S. Customs Federal Inspection Area.

Harvey Milk Terminal 1 Boarding Area B is also the first airport terminal in the world to earn a full WELL certification, a performance-based system for measuring, certifying, and monitoring features of the built environment that impact human health and wellbeing, such as air, water, nourishment, light, movement, thermal comfort, sound, materials, mind, and community.

SFO also received two honorable mentions within the Outstanding Sustainability Program category for its Sustainable Planning, Design, and Construction Guidelines, and for its Zero Waste Concessions plan.

Learn more about SFO here.