Two stations for San Francisco Airport’s people mover system showcase sustainable building practices

In May, the San Francisco International Airport completed the extension of its AirTrain people mover system to its Long-Term Parking area. At that point, the AirTrain provided connectivity between all terminals, parking garages, an on-airport hotel, the city’s subway system, and the airport’s car rental center. Previously transportation between the long-term parking lot and the terminals had been provided by shuttle buses, and AirTrain’s extension is projected to eliminate 600,000 miles of trips annually, according to the airport.

This $259 million project, which launched in August 2016, extends the AirTrain guideways by 1,900 ft to reach the long-term parking lot. The project included the construction of two new AirTrain stations, each of which built under a $172 million progressive design-build contract with Skanska USA and WSP. The first station, located at the on-site Grand Hyatt hotel, opened to the public on October 2, 2019; the second station, with a pedestrian bridge that connects AirTrain to one of two Long-Term Parking multilevel garages, opened on May 5 of this year.

VERY GREEN STOPS

The construction project’s highlights include the installation of a 2,700-panel PV array on the roof of the long-term parking garage that will generate about two-fifths of the stations’ annual power needs. Water-efficient fittings and fixtures will cut the stations’ water use by 40%. Three-quarters of this project’s construction and demolition debris were recycled. The stations’ indoor air quality complies with LEED air quality assessment standards (prior to occupancy).

In total, more the 50 sustainable practices were implemented as part of the construction of the stations, which were certified LEED Gold in September. “Achieving LEED Gold certifications demonstrates our commitment to employing sustainable practices on every project we undertake,” said Tony Taddeo, Senior Vice President of Operations for Skanska USA Civil.

PGH Wong was its construction manager on the AirTrain extension project.

AirTrain, which has been in operation since 2003, currently consists of 41 electric vehicles that run along six miles of fully automated concrete guideways.