Reaching for New Heights
Ladies and gentlemen, please fasten your seatbelts and make sure your tray tables are in their full upright and locked position - Terminal 2 the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) is getting a makeover.
Terminal 2 saw its busiest month ever this March, with a record-setting 711,600 passengers passing through its gates. The Terminal hosts MSP-based Sun County Airlines, along with six additional domestic and international air carriers. Overall, demand for travel has increased in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic. The US Bureau of Transportation Statistics recorded a 30% increase in the number of domestic airline passengers in 2022 compared to 2021.
Last month, the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) launched a $263 million expansion of Terminal 2 at MSP. The project will add two additional airline gates and increased seating in the terminal. It will also incorporate green building systems, such as geothermal climate control, rainwater reclamation, and LED lighting.
The MAC has its sights set on LEED Gold certification for the Terminal 2 expansion project. Sustainable improvements are anticipated to reduce the Terminal’s overall heating and cooling demand by almost 20%, water demand by 56%, and energy demand for interior lighting by 23%. Renderings of the project are available here.
Other airports across the country are also jumping on the sustainability train . . . or, er, plane. For example, earlier this year, the Portland International Airport in Oregon debuted a $2.15 billion project to double its capacity and reduce the airport’s energy use per square foot by 50%. Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport in Kentucky also cut its energy consumption by installing the largest geothermal system of any airport in the U.S. This new system is expected to use 40% less energy than conventional heating and cooling methods.
As air travel reaches new heights post-pandemic, many airports are embracing more sustainable design methods – including the one here in the Twin Cities. While the upgrade at Terminal 2 won’t be complete for a few years, its sure to really . . . take off.