City of El Paso: International Airport

Background

In 2009, the City of El Paso’s Council adopted a Sustainability Plan which included a goal to reduce the organization’s energy use by 30% by 2014. To meet this goal and revitalize city infrastructure, El Paso initiated an Energy Savings Performance Contract in 2007. Building on the momentum of the first four phases of work, which included 44 building upgrades, including renewable energy installations, HVAC upgrades, lighting retrofits, and a facility management system, the El Paso International Airport (EPIA) was an obvious next step.

El Paso International Airport (EPIA) provides first-class passenger and air cargo service to the three-state and two nation region, including West Texas, Southern New Mexico and Northern Mexico. Encompassing nearly 7,000 acres of land, the airport plays a vital role in the regional transportation system, not only for aviation and airline passenger travel, but also for industrial, commercial, and cargo activity. The EPIA buildings that were addressed include the Main Terminal, Customs & Maintenance, Warehouse I-III, and Butterfield Trail Golf Course Building.

Solutions

The EPIA had outdated HVAC equipment that increased hot and cold spots and was not very efficient or comfortable. Although the EPIA did have a lot of natural light, it came with issues, too - the glare and heat from the windows made areas uncomfortable during hot summer months. The EPIA project included lighting retrofits and controls upgrades, solar window film, central plant upgrades, and installation of a facility-wide energy management system.

The airport main terminal lighting upgrades included retrofits to more efficient lamps and ballasts; wired and wireless lighting controls; a web-based control system; and daylighting controls throughout interior spaces. HVAC improvements addressed the airport’s aging central plant and included three new efficient chillers and pumps; four new efficient boilers and pumps; heat exchanger upgrades; and refurbishment of the existing cooling tower. The facility energy management system replaced all pneumatic valves and controllers with direct digital controls that optimized HVAC systems and consolidated three outdated controls systems into one central dashboard.

The estimated costs and energy impacts from the planned capital investment projects are:

Scope of Work	Simple Payback Years	Cost	Annual Electric Cost Savings	Annual Gas Cost Savings	Annual O&M Cost Savings	Annual Total Cost Savings
Lighting Retrofits & Controls	8.2	$773,062	$84,191	$(279)	$10,136	$94,048
Solar Window Film	6.6	$280,154	$28,804	$13,562	$0	$42,366
Central Plant HVAC Upgrades	9.4	$1,807,249	$159,172	$13,390	$20,000	$192,562
Facility Energy Management System	13.5	$1,360,636	$85,870	$9,890	$5,000	$100,760
Totals	11.1	$4,221,101	$358,037	$36,563	$35,136	$429,736

ANNUAL ENERGY USE

(Source EUI)

ANNUAL ENERGY COST

ANNUAL WATER USE

ANNUAL WATER COST

ANNUAL PLANT ELECTRICITY USE

ANNUAL PLANT ELECTRICITY COST

IN BUILDING ENERGY USE

IN BUILDING ENERGY COST

ACROSS NETWORK USE

ACROSS NETWORK COST

ANNUAL EMISSIONS

USE

COST

ANNUAL WASTE COST

ANNUAL WASTE USE

El Paso International Airport

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City of El Paso: International Airport

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