Elite Traveler Summer 2022

51 etr li at ve eler SUMMER 2022

Bombardier’s Challenger 3500

MarkMasluch Director, Bombardier Bombardier has committed more than 50% of research and development funds to develop environmentally friendly private jets. In 2020, its Global 7500 became the fi rst business jet to complete an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD). EPDs are a fact-based plan addressing the complete life cycle impacts of producing aircraft, including the carbon footprint from suppliers and the materials they source, as well as the manufacturing process. The Montreal-based OEM has committed to a 25% reduction in greenhouse gas, a 20% reduction in energy consumption and a 5% decline in hazardous waste by 2025. Senior director of communications Mark Masluch talks about Bombardier’s path to being green. What’s Bombardier’s approach to sustainability? It goes back more than a decade to when Bombardier was a company with other products that also had very keen eyes on sustainable growth — really understanding the full life cycle of our operations, not just the emissions that come from our products. And that really is something that has guided our principles. What goes into building that aircraft? What goes into operating our buildings? What do we emit as a company just being? What are we doing to improve

things I think business aviation does very well is it has created a realistic and achievable plan that is transparent. There are concrete actions that have been taking place since 2009. How about what goes into making the aircraft? On the Challenger 3500, the material that now goes into the cabin gives customers spec options with recycled and sustainable materials. That means looking at the types of wools, how the veneers are sourced, the type of woods that are used. It means measuring the carbon footprint from sourcing the material, creating it and transporting it. It’s the full life cycle. We calculate all of that through an Environmental Product Declaration. It’s not just the fuel; it’s about the cost of the product being born. What about aircraft design? There’s always been the vision of an aircraft as a tube with two wings. We’re studying a blended wing body and changing the aerodynamic shape of the aircraft to lower fuel emissions so that net-zero aircraft isn’t one killer technology we must wait for. Add that to sustainable fuels. Add that to improvements in propulsion technology, and you get there in steps. bombardier.com

our products? What are we doing from an industry perspective to help foster awareness and adoption of sustainable aviation? In 2009, we were part of the initial signatories of business aviation commitment to climate change, and a lot of Bombardier teams and engineers contributed to that analysis. One of the