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.
Related Stories
| Oct 16, 2014
Henning Larsen Architects to design train station for planned Danish town
Danish firm Henning Larsen Architects won Frederikssung municipality’s architecture competition for a regional train station in the planned city of Vinge—Denmark’s largest urban development.
| Oct 16, 2014
Perkins+Will white paper examines alternatives to flame retardant building materials
The white paper includes a list of 193 flame retardants, including 29 discovered in building and household products, 50 found in the indoor environment, and 33 in human blood, milk, and tissues.
| Oct 12, 2014
AIA 2030 commitment: Five years on, are we any closer to net-zero?
This year marks the fifth anniversary of the American Institute of Architects’ effort to have architecture firms voluntarily pledge net-zero energy design for all their buildings by 2030.
| Oct 3, 2014
New survey tracks Americans’ attitudes towards transit use
A record 10.7 billion rides were taken on public transit in the United States last year. And a national survey of Americans finds that the speed, reliability, and cost, more than any other factors, determine people’s willingness and frequency of use.
| Sep 24, 2014
Architecture billings see continued strength, led by institutional sector
On the heels of recording its strongest pace of growth since 2007, there continues to be an increasing level of demand for design services signaled in the latest Architecture Billings Index.
| Sep 24, 2014
Federal Highway Administration to release design manual for protected bike lanes
The guidelines will cover the pros and cons of different intersection designs and types of protection.
| Sep 22, 2014
4 keys to effective post-occupancy evaluations
Perkins+Will's Janice Barnes covers the four steps that designers should take to create POEs that provide design direction and measure design effectiveness.
| Sep 10, 2014
Ranked: Top transit facility sector AEC firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Leo A Daly, URS, and Skanska head BD+C's rankings of the largest transit facility sector design and construction firms, based on the 2014 Giants 300 Report.
| Sep 9, 2014
Using Facebook to transform workplace design
As part of our ongoing studies of how building design influences human behavior in today’s social media-driven world, HOK’s workplace strategists had an idea: Leverage the power of social media to collect data about how people feel about their workplaces and the type of spaces they need to succeed.
| Sep 3, 2014
New designation launched to streamline LEED review process
The LEED Proven Provider designation is designed to minimize the need for additional work during the project review process.