In-house Environmentalists: More Than 100 Employees Volunteer as Sustainability Focals

Jake Barson has always had an interest in what he calls “all things green” –sustainability, the environment and conservation.

Now he’s working to bring that lifelong interest into his full-time job.

Barson, a Pratt & Whitney engineer in Columbus, Georgia, is one of more than 100 employees who have volunteered to become what is known as a “sustainability focal.”

“I already have the opportunity to help keep our engines safe, reliable and dependable,” said Barson. “But as a sustainability focal I also help make sure those engines, and our company as a whole, have a more positive impact on the world, its environment and our future.”

Once they’ve come forward, focals receive training to ensure a clear understanding of sustainability’s value to the world, their customers, their work areas, and Pratt & Whitney.

Barson’s focus as he pursued a master’s degree in aviation and aerospace sustainability was on a critical and ever-developing aspect of aviation’s future – sustainable aviation fuels, often called SAFs. Derived from crops, captured CO2 and waste that would otherwise go to a landfill or be incinerated, SAFs are cleaner and more thermally stable than petroleum-based Jet A/A-1 and will be a key enabler as aviation moves closer to the industry goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.

“I began looking at ways to leverage my graduate research and apply it to Pratt & Whitney’s operations. The goal of my research and work in SAF implementation is to bring SAF’s benefits to our ground operations. Through that work, I have been able to quantify how much SAF P&W would need to incorporate into its engine testing operations company-wide to achieve various climate goals we have set for the next 30 years.”

All Pratt & Whitney engines are compatible with 50% SAF. Today, Pratt & Whitney’s engineers continue this industry leadership with next-generation propulsion technologies that will further reduce carbon emissions. Those technologies include ultra-high bypass ratio engines, thermally efficient engines, hybrid electric engines and hydrogen-powered engines.

Trimming the Paper Trail

Another sustainability focal, Andree-Anne Lambert, found an opportunity to improve operations at her work site in Longueuil, Québec, not long after many began working from home in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

She noticed printing had dropped by more than half, and she estimates the prolonged reduction has saved about 2,000 trees in the last two years.

“While a small amount of printing still happened remotely, working from home has just made it natural not to print,” she said.

Previously, people didn’t hesitate to print because paper is recyclable, not realizing there are other environmental costs.

“From the energy and water it takes to make, transport and recycle the paper, to the resources required for printer, ink and toner cartridges production and recycling, or the durability of printers and their need for spare parts; it is a complex lifecycle that goes beyond the impact of single sheet of paper,” Lambert said.

Now it’s a matter of making better printing practices part of the culture.

“The pandemic has forced us to change how we work and replace multiple paper forms with electronic workflows, an effort that is still ongoing,” Lambert said. “As a next step, we will be preparing a communication campaign to better engage employees and encourage printing reduction in line with our return to the office. We developed a good habit without realizing it, we need to make sure we maintain it once we’re all back.”