INDUSTRYMETRICS
Airports Flying Closer to the Sun
A
t San Francisco International, a traveler can buy carbon offsets at a kiosk in the passenger terminal, and he or she will read the sales contract with lighting powered by solar panels on the building’s roof. In fact, almost all of the power used in the terminal is provided by a huge array of the latest high-tech photovoltaic panels. Meanwhile, 2,000 miles away in tiny Stevens Point, Wis., a “solar wall” is used to heat the air in a general aviation hangar housing eight singleengine planes. When it comes to their sources of energy, airports are getting ever closer to the sun.
The Shining Light
Even with $100-a-barrel oil and impending carbon emission regulations, it’s not easy for any industry to be green when it comes to alternative power generation, especially for governmental entities like airports that cannot easily avail themselves of the billions in tax credits currently available to private enterprises. Unsubsidized solar-generated electricity is still several times the cost per kilowatt-hour of power from the least-expensive conventional coal-fired powerplants. But in the past two years, the airport industry has moved beyond waste recycling, sophisticated HVAC systems and low-impact building materials to the green technology that is arguably evolving faster than any other. Airports are becoming the transportation industry’s primary champions of solar energy, and they are generating it and using
it in ways as innovative as any other public or private enterprise. In fact, airports’ burgeoning interest in alternative energy is expanding their traditional repertoire of public-private partnerships to include everything from the passive solar heating technology of Stevens Point’s hangar to covering their parking lots with solar panels that power, among other things, electric vehicle charging stations located within them. Contrary to conventional wisdom, solar technology is transforming energy at small airports in colder climates at least as fast as at larger airports in warm sunny climates. At Plattsburgh International in upstate New York, heating costs account for more than 60 percent of the airport’s total energy costs. Airport Manager Tom Long, A.A.E., noted that, “Several buildings at the airport were unmarketable because the utility bills were so high. We have a 166,000-square-foot hangar with an annual heating bill of $355,000. No one wants to rent with utility bills like that.” To improve the situation, the airport decided to contract with Conserval Engineering to install the company’s SolarWall panels. The panels, which can be attached to any building, capture solar-heated air from the six-inch space between the inner layer and outer layer and then efficiently recirculate it throughout the building. Installing it on four airport buildings cost $620,000, which was fully paid for by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority using funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Forms of Solar Power
Solar power refers to several methods short of plant photosynthesis that transform the energy of the sun into a usable industrial form, not just to electricity from photovoltaic cells. There are four types of solar power of greatest interest to airports: Solar design is an ancient technology that has become dramatically more sophisticated as computerized HVAC control systems have emerged and the value of conservation has increased. It employs a variety of shaping, shading, exposure, coating and recirculation principles that either deflect or capture the sun’s energy or both. In conservation-conscious airports, solar design is often complemented by 48
AIRPORTMAGAZINE.NET | JUNE/JULY 2011