California's San Jose Airport Goes Green

Efforts to green Mineta San Jose International Airport, where a USD$1 billion-plus expansion project is under way, are already paying off. So says the airport and some of its major vendors in the project.

Deployment of high-performance energy efficiency software to manage the airport's HVAC system, coupled with an addition and an upgrade to the facility's array of chillers, have yielded more than USD$35,000 in savings from utility costs in the first five months of operation.

The measures have also saved 235,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity and reduced the carbon footprint for the facility by almost 300,000 pounds of CO2 during the same period, according to Optimum Energy, the provider of the software solution, and the airport.

The airport is undertaking a major overhaul that includes construction of a new terminal, road improvements and remodeling of its existing Terminal A.

Work on the new section, which will be a new Terminal B with an adjoining concourse, and demolition of Terminal C are scheduled for completion in 2010.

The project to revamp Terminal A got a boost in March, when the facility was awarded a USD$4.6 million grant to install airport and ground service equipment under the Federal Aviation Administration's Voluntary Airport Low Emissions Program, which has a goal of improving air quality.

Other improvements at the airport include installation of new thin-panel lighted signs that are more energy efficient without compromising legibility.

The signs are two-sided, four inches deep -- about half the depth of conventional signs. The technology used in the signs has been shown to reduce energy consumption by more than 70 percent compared to standard signs that use fluorescent or neon backlighting.

The first batch of signs were installed at an outdoor ground transportation island at the airport. Three hundred will be built and installed at the facility.

The project to expand the airport and make its operations more environmentally responsible is part of San Jose's broader effort to green the city.