BAS Soars to New Heights

The airline industry went into a nosedive two years ago and is still struggling to recover. But a stormy economy wasn't able to bring down one airport project—the new Continental Airlines Terminal E at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas.

Planning for the project began in the late 1990s when the economy was still flying high. Designers had two goals in mind: to create a terminal that would provide passengers a pleasant and efficient traveling experience, and at the same time, deliver state-of-the-art operations and maintenance capabilities.

One way in which designers have achieved both of these goals is by monitoring building systems to an extent not typically seen in airports. Many facilities, of course, have building automation systems. But in planning this state-of-the-art terminal, the design team went several steps further.

The first seven gates in the 23-gate, 600,000-sq.-ft. terminal, designed by Corgan Associates, opened for business on time in June 2003. While travelers look through windows reaching three stories high, Continental Airlines employees are looking at real-time reports on the company's intranet to monitor the electrical and operating status of every system in the building.

In many ways, the project is one-of-a-kind, and one major reason for its uniqueness has to do with ownership of Terminal E.

Most airport terminals are owned by municipalities. In fact, the rest of the Bush Airport is owned and operated by the Houston Dept. of Aviation. For Terminal E, however, Continental leased the ground from the city, enabling the airline to build a terminal in its headquarters city to its own specifications. Doing so required that Continental take total responsibility for operations and maintenance that would otherwise be handled by the city.

"We have responsibility for everything from pay phones to cleaning the floors to signage, even the plumbing and toilets in the terminal," said Rob Walker, senior manager for Continental Corporate Real Estate and project manager for the Terminal E project. "In light of that, we built in a [building automation system] that allows us to monitor a number of points in the building from our desktops. This building was built with facility maintenance in mind."

And much of the facility management is indeed automated. With windows that run continuously from the terminal's scalloped roofline to its terrazzo floors, the terminal building sparkles with natural light. Multiple levels of indoor lighting can rise and fall to adjust to daylight through a lighting control system that uses photocells for ambient light compensation.

Likewise, the HVAC systems scale up and down in different parts of the building—especially during non-peak hours—through scheduling that is determined by the BAS. This allows for energy savings while still keeping travelers comfortable.

But the BAS extends beyond HVAC and lighting to literally every piece of mechanical equipment, even elevators, escalators and moving sidewalks. Facility maintenance staff, and others with appropriate access, can monitor equipment from their computers—or wait for alerts on pop-up screens.

"We can sense voltage overruns, so we can tell if we are having a problem with the moving sidewalks," Walker said. "We can get a service call out before they shut down."

Travelers keep moving, and as a result, stay happy. But airline passengers need more to be content than just being kept in constant motion toward their destinations. They also want a comfortable environment, from their arrival at the airport until they depart on their flights.

This is why the monitoring and controlling of systems extends beyond the building proper to the boarding bridges that funnel people between the door of the plane and the terminal gate. For these bridges, about 50 analog and digital parameters are currently monitored with the approximate capability of 400 points through the use of a solid-state solution using programmable logic controllers (PLCs) instead of hard-wired relays, which provide a much more limited scope of information. The ultimate goal is that Houston's hot and humid air, particularly in the summer, won't be passengers' first impression of the city.

In addition to the real-time information provided by the BAS, the operations staff uses CCTV cameras to ensure that boarding bridges function as smoothly as possible. But it is the BAS that provides vital information on the status, position and movement of a bridge, as well as indicates whether the exterior doors are open when a flight is not at the gate. Moreover, the bridge can be pre-cooled prior to flight arrival and shut down when not in use to maximize energy savings.

Another major advantage of advanced BAS is that personnel receive routine maintenance data that previously required an on-site inspection. Through this kind of monitoring, the operations department can ensure that flights leave on time.

In order to make all of this happen, Carter & Burgess engineers worked closely with Continental's operations staff to understand the airline's processes. In this way, the engineers could specify not only the right equipment, but also the diagnostic tools and parameters for measurement.

"Everything in this building has a data port. It's a big wiring infrastructure with miles of cables," said Allen Clark of Walker Engineering Group, the contractor that handled the electrical construction. Moreover, the PLCs installed on each loading bridge feed even more wire into the terminal's complex electrical and communications infrastructure.

Terminal E is served by two high-voltage 12.47-kilovolt (kV) underground utility lines, each fed from different utility substations. Each utility service feeds into one of four manual transfer switches. Each of the manual transfer switches then feeds two 12.47-kV/480-volt transformers.

Due to the size of the building, there are two electrical service entrances, one each on the west and east sides (see Figure, p.52). Each service entrance consists of four transformers that feed into two independent 5,000-amp draw-out switchgear lineups. Each switchgear lineup is configured as a main-tie-main, with a normally open tie-breaker and PLC-controlled automatic rollover. In the event of a loss of one utility source or transformer, the tie-breaker automatically closes, restoring power to the entire bus. Each bus and utility transformer is sized to carry the entire load so that building operations can continue with little or no downtime. The advantage to the facility operations is that the system is automatic and under their control, as opposed to being dependent on a single utility transfer switch and transformer to ensure continued operation of the facility. As another level of redundancy, the manual transfer switch on the transformer primary can be switched by the utility in the event that one of their lines would be out of service for an extended period of time.

This configuration, along with an analysis by design engineers that determined a low incidence of utility outages related to the airport utility circuits, led to the conclusion that an emergency generator would not be required. This decision saved valuable real estate and eliminated future maintenance for the life of the facility.

Moreover, centralized lighting inverters and uninterruptible power supply systems are also deployed throughout the building for critical loads. The lighting inverters provide centralized, easily accessible locations within the electrical rooms for maintenance vs. the lower initial cost associated with individual battery packs in the lighting fixtures.

"It's instantaneous. The lights don't even blink," Walker said, though he will know what has happened just by looking at his computer screen. The BAS provides real-time breaker status for each of the main switchgear lineups and reports when a utility circuit drops and when it is regained. "Everyone seems to lean on an emergency generator. But with two utility circuits, we have redundant power."

Of course, the electrical system is invisible to travelers. They only see high spaces and natural light from clerestory windows—and for now, only in a limited section of the terminal.

The seven gates open today serve domestic and international outbound flights, but ultimately, Terminal E will be an international destination terminal (see "International High Point, p.50). Because of this, Terminal E was designed to handle every type of aircraft in the Continental fleet. Multiple aircraft parking positions allow for most gates to accommodate multiple kinds of jets, from small aircraft for regional travel up to the widebody 777s. This affords a tremendous amount of flexibility in operations, an important consideration in light of the fact that the terminal will witness increasing domestic and international traffic.

Final realization of the Terminal E master plan also depends on developments outside the terminal. Convenience and security in parking garages is a particular area of focus, not only in Houston but on numerous recent projects through the country (see "Lighting the Path," p.50).

But the quality of life inside the terminal is the key to customer satisfaction, and Continental is creating a very friendly environment in Terminal E. Its responsibility for the entire facility incorporates concessionaires, and Carter & Burgess's electrical design responsibility included finishing out spaces for the food courts, concessions storage areas and some of the restaurants and retail stores.

"New airports are like shopping malls where we land airplanes," Walker said. Concessionaires in Terminal E include more than 30 name-brand outlets in a 50,000-sq.-ft. "airport mall."

The airline wants travelers to be comfortable, and that includes relaxing between flights. In the center of the massive terminal will be the members-only, three-story Presidents Club, the largest lounge in the Continental system. Appreciative international travelers will find individual shower stalls and a full valet service. The Presidents Club also will have 60 private carrels with online connections and a media room. Travelers with children will particularly appreciate the family rooms where parents can stretch out with their children in a space that offers couches and videos to keep the kids occupied. Floor-to-ceiling windows in the Presidents Club will continue the terminal's signature panoramic views. Travelers look out over an impressive atrium on one side or at the airfield on the other.

A separate Young Travelers Club offers views for children to watch the planes and the workers on the tarmac. They get snacks and games in their lounge area. Like all the spaces in Terminal E, this one is engineered to assure the overall project goal of a positive experience for passengers. The Young Travelers Club is a fun, safe and supervised atmosphere for unaccompanied children waiting for flights.

Passengers without the time to take advantage of retail or lounge facilities still have a treat in store. In the center of the terminal, a video wall encircles the elliptically shaped atrium and will certainly catch the eye of even the most rushed traveler. Continental commissioned pop artist Peter Max to create a mural incorporated into the architecture. The artwork appears to float on 77 video screens that line the atrium walls—which of course, required a significant amount of electrical power.

Last but not least, Continental employees will have their own place in the new terminal, the largest of the airline's three main hubs. About halfway through preparation of the construction documents, Continental elected to add a 250-person employee cafeteria. Gordon's Galley, named after Continental CEO Gordon Bethune, is situated next to the company store, providing employees a place to relax and enjoy a great meal. Carter & Burgess was able to provide the needed electrical infrastructure to this space by utilizing spare conduits that were incorporated into the original underground ductbank system early in design.

With flexible spaces and an accommodating electrical system, adjustments such as adding a cafeteria are possible, though still challenging, with tight timelines. It's simply good planning to allow for whatever changes might be needed. In fact, Carter & Burgess allowed for approximately 20% spare power into the infrastructure to allow for growth as well as changing operations. There are spare breakers and panels, plus spare conduit in the ground for pathways for future growth.

For now, though, sights are set on the end of December, the target date for opening the second phase of Terminal E. If the remaining 18 gates aren't quite ready for holiday traffic, Rob Walker reports, they will certainly be ready for passengers arriving in Houston at the end of January 2004, just in time for Super Bowl XXXVIII. It will be time to party, and for Continental Airlines to celebrate its new home.