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S uperlatives PEOPLE, CULTURE, TASTE, STYLE VIEW FROM THE TOP Eyes to the Skies AS CHICAGO PREPARES TO HOST THE AIRPORTS GOING GREEN CONFERENCE, ROSEMARIE ANDOLINO IS LEADING THE WAY. BY DAWN REISS PHOTOGRAPHY BY KATRINA WITTKAMP I t's 2:30 in the afternoon, and Chicago Department of Aviation commissioner Holiday Inn to discuss sustainability in aviation. "We came up with the Rosemarie "Rosie" Andolino is already on her fifth—or maybe sixth—cup of idea of Airports Going Green, since no one was focusing on it," Andolino coffee with cream. "I lost track a few hours ago," she jokes as she grabs a seat says. "It's about learning and sharing best practices. That's been very helpful for all of us; whether it's mistakes or successes, we try to build on that. It by O'Hare International Airport's new aeroponic garden in Terminal 3. It's the first garden of its kind in the world, with 26 tall white silos filled sets the bar and challenges us to do better." It's a passion that Andolino attributes to her time with former Chicago with plants like basil, thyme, and tomatoes that sit under big greenhouse lamps in an open-air section surrounded by small tables and chairs Mayor Richard M. Daley, who appointed Andolino in 2003 to oversee the grouped like those in a café. A proprietary soilless mixture of water and $8 billion expansion project at O'Hare International Airport (also called the nutrients are piped up the stacks to feed each tower. Once ripened, the O'Hare Modernization Project). With a vast number of stakeholders includfresh herbs and vegetables are picked and used at airport restaurants like ing air traffic controllers, first responders, project managers, engineers, and contractors, Andolino calls the O'Hare expanRick Bayless's Tortas Frontera, Wicker Park sion project a well-choreographed "shotgun Seafood & Sushi, Blackhawks Restaurant, and marriage." "Mayor Daley was very adamant that Tuscany for a farm-to-table experience. I go out and talk to all the elected officials around It's just one of Andolino's many initiatives to the airport and let them know what was happencreate a more "green" aviation environment. ing," says Andolino, whom Daley named the Between them, Chicago's two airports now have Chicago Department of Aviation Commissioner 333,000 square feet of vegetated green roofs on in 2009. "It dispelled a lot of the misinformation 14 buildings. On the east side of the 8,000-acre —ROSEMARIE ANDOLINO out there by creating a personal relationship." O'Hare airport there are 28 beehives. In late Andolino says one of the best things she iniJuly, goats, sheep, llamas, and wild burrows were brought in to "mow" the northeast corner of O'Hare, the second busiest tially did was walk the expansion area with the construction crew to airport in the world. By the end of 2013, concessions and restaurants at understand their specific problems and build trust. From there, the team both airports will no longer use any plates or utensils made of Styrofoam or used the US Green Building Council's framework and created new guidepetroleum products. By 2015, Andolino has pledged that both airports will lines and standards prior to the initial runway expansion to incorporate reduce their energy consumption by 15 percent. She's also helping spear- more environmentally friendly techniques such as reusing 98 percent of all head discussions about adding solar and wind turbines to the airports, and construction demolition materials—including 575,000 tons of asphalt grindthe use of more biofuels in Chicago via the newly created Midwest Aviation ings and crushed concrete aggregate, which has resulted in $4.5 million in savings. "It was a lot of pressure, and there wasn't much room for error," Sustainable Biofuels Initiative, which encompasses a 12-state region. This month, Andolino will help facilitate the sixth annual Airports Andolino says. "My job was to remove obstacles and get the job done." Even Going Green Conference (November 12–14) at the Chicago Mart Plaza continued on page 58 "The airport expansion project was a lot of pressure, and there wasn't much room for error." MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM 056-058_MA_SP_VFT_Nov13.indd 57 57 10/21/13 5:20 PM