Feature
Story
New Indianapolis
Airport System:
Innovative construction
techniques deliver savings
Mark Vogler, Superintendent of Thermal Engineering, Citizens Thermal Energy
On Oct. 28, 2008, Indianapolis
will open a brand-new $1.1 billion
airport terminal for the 21st century – a 1. 2 million-sq-ft structure expected
to earn a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) silver rating
when completed. Equipped with 40 gates
lining two concourses, the nation’s third-tallest air-traffic control tower and a
rotunda-like Civic Plaza, the new Midfield
Terminal has been under construction
for the past three years between the
existing airport’s two runways.
Though the terminal may be the
showpiece of the New Indianapolis Airport,
the airport makeover also includes new
highway access, parking, support facilities
and improved airside operations and
utilities. To meet its heating and cooling
needs, the new terminal will utilize district
energy supplied by the airport’s own
Central Energy Plant. Early on in the
project, the Indianapolis Airport Authority
(IAA) decided that connection of the new
terminal – via a 5,890-ft ‘utility connector’
– to an existing plant adjacent to the airfield made better sense than construction
of a new central plant. BHMM Energy
Services LLC (BHMM), partnering with
Citizens Thermal Energy (CTE), led the
construction and installation of this connector, taking a creative approach that
ultimately saved the IAA considerable
time and money.
‘Utility Connector’ Proposal
In mid-2004, BHMM Energy Services
LLC (BHMM) was formed to partner with
Citizens Thermal Energy (CTE) and
respond to an IAA-issued RFP for operation and maintenance of the Indianapolis
Maintenance Center’s Central Energy
Plant, which was providing utility services (steam, chilled water and compressed
air) to an existing aircraft maintenance
facility located on the north side of the
airfield. Successful in the RFP process,
BHMM/CTE entered into negotiation of
the utility service contract in early 2005.
During those negotiations, BHMM/
CTE was asked by the IAA to review and
comment on preliminary design of the
utility connector system being planned
to connect utilities from the existing
Central Energy Plant to the new Midfield
Terminal and to determine if a more cost-effective approach could be identified.
Courtesy [Indianapolis Airport Authority
A new passenger terminal, to be heated and cooled using district energy, is currently under construction
between two parallel runways on the New Indianapolis Airport’s 7,700-acre airfield. It is currently
scheduled to open in fall 2008.
