Airport News
The US Green Building Council (USGBC) has awarded LEED Silver certification to the Byron L. Dorgan Terminal at Grand Forks International Airport based in North Dakota, USA.
Designed by JLG Architects, it is one of five international airport terminals in the United States to achieve LEED certification and will become a featured case study on the Department of Energy’s website.
Designed to lower energy use by 14.2% compared to other relative buildings, the terminal has surpassed projections after energy was reduced by 15.7%, or US$14,000 (£9,000) a year. The reduction was primarily made possible through the installation of a geothermal system, which uses energy-efficient, environmentally clean and cost-effective methods of temperature control. The system was installed under the parking lot and uses the earth’s constant temperatures to heat and cool.
Inside the Byron L. Dorgan Terminal, a Building Management System monitors and adjusts space temperatures, and the ground floor lobby uses floor heat to keep the space warm from the ground up.
Water use at the terminal was also decreased by 43.1%, or by 83,061 gallons a year, which is the equivalent of the usage by 213 homes a day for a family of four. The sinks save a gallon of water per minute, urinals save just under one gallon per minute, and the lavatories save two gallons per minute. Additionally, the landscaping includes native and adaptive plantings that rely on standard rainfall and require no permanent irrigation.
Humidity is controlled at the terminal by two dedicated outdoor air systems that deliver fresh air, and temperatures are regulated to stay between 68-72 degrees for all seasons via automated controls in 10 zones.
