The Denver International Airport (DEN) took on a multi-concourse expansion project to accommodate growth and meet their goal of becoming more sustainable. Ambient Energy, a Mead & Hunt Company, provided sustainability consultant services for the B-West concourse expansion, which ultimately obtained Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification. This LEED Gold expansion uses about 30% less energy than a typical concourse, and the indoor water demand was reduced by 45%.
Our team worked with the airport and design team to overcome energy efficiency challenges such as high energy loads at gates, retail and airline tenant requirements, and temporary spaces such as the boarding bridges and the planes themselves. We used our sustainable workshop visioning process to map and create metrics around a combination of innovative and sustainable technologies. The project included the following sustainable practices and features:
- Over 90% of construction waste generated onsite was recycled
- Over 20% of materials installed on the new concourses (by cost) are made from recycled materials
- A 40% interior lighting reduction
- Energy recovery of exhaust air and outdoor air
- HVAC systems have upgraded MERV13 filters that reduce indoor air contaminants
- A rooftop solar photovoltaic array
The B-West expansion created four new gates, six additional waiting areas and support space; and provides DEN with a framework to replicate this LEED Gold certification on the other concourse expansion projects.
