The new LEED Gold certified terminal at Oakland County International Airport (OCIA) is operating with 44 percent greater energy efficiency than its predecessor. From October 2011 through March 2012, the new terminal’s average cost for utilities was 27.5 cents per square foot; whereas the old terminal’s average utility costs from October 2009 to March 2012 were 49 cents per square foot.
“These are real savings,” said Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson. “The energy efficient technology is part of the ‘wow’ factor business and general aviation travelers encounter when they use the new terminal as their gateway to the region.”
Among the terminal’s leading-edge green technologies are:
• Wind and solar generation of electricity.
• A solar hot water heater.
• Geothermal heating and cooling.
• Highly efficient fluorescent and LED lighting.
• A living wall of tropical rain forest plants that clean the air inside the building.
OCIA learned in February that its terminal building had attained LEED Gold Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. OCIA’s new terminal is the first airport terminal in Michigan and the first general aviation terminal in the nation to receive this coveted designation.
“The airport has a great impact on southeast Michigan,” said Oakland County Director of Central Services J. David VanderVeen who oversees OCIA. “Nearly every Fortune 500 company flies through here in the course of a year and it has a $175 million impact on the region.”
The terminal at OCIA was built with airport user fees and federal and state grants. No Oakland County general fund dollars paid for its construction. OCIA is the second busiest airport in Michigan.
