Heathrow development gets green light

Planning permission for new buildings to replace Heathrow Terminals 1 and 2 has been granted by the London Borough of Hillingdon and Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone.

Although subject to completion of a legal agreement, the decision clears the way for construction of Heathrow East, which could be completed in time for the 2012 London Olympics. The new buildings, which will not increase the capacity of the airport, form part of operator BAA's £6.2bn 10-year investment programme to upgrade Heathrow.

Foster & Partners designs will set a new standard in environmentally sensitive airport buildings by cutting carbon dioxide emissions by around 40% compared to the buildings it will replace. This will be achieved by using a design that requires less energy; generates decentralised energy through on-site combined cooling, heating and power; and uses on-site renewable energy such as biomass gasification and photovoltaic solar panels.

Heathrow East will be the first major development in London to use biomass gasification. This process generates a renewable gas from waste wood and sustainable forests that can then be used to fuel a combined heat and power plant serving the terminal.

Tony Douglas, chief executive of BAA Heathrow, said: "I’m delighted that we’ve got the green light for Heathrow East. This is great news for passengers. By June 2012, most of our passengers will be travelling through terminal facilities that aren’t even open today and we will have either re-built or redeveloped all our other terminals. Heathrow will be like a new airport for London."