— New Air Traffic Control Tower to Feature Host of Environmental Benefits —
Oakland’s new, 236 foot-tall air traffic control tower and 13,000 square-foot base building will be one of the Federal Aviation Administration’s most environmentally friendly structures. The FAA will work to achieve a U.S. Green Building Council LEED Gold environmental rating for the tower, which will replace the two existing Oakland airport control towers.
American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) funding totaling $33.2 million will pay for construction of the tower and base building, plus some equipment for the facility.
The facility’s environmental benefits are expected to include:
- Solar panels on the roofs of the base building and parking structure that will provide an estimated 30 percent of the facility’s power needs while the sun is shining.
- An underground, geothermal system that will provide heating and air conditioning for the facility. Because the underground temperature remains constant at around 60 degrees, it will take less energy to heat and cool the building.
- An underground water storage system that will capture rain runoff from the building roof and will provide all of the irrigation during the dry, summer season. Landscaping will consist of drought-tolerant plants.
- Low water use toilets, faucets and showers.
- A light colored roof that will reduce the amount of heat that seeps into the building by deflecting solar heat back into the atmosphere.
- Filtration trenches throughout the site that will be used to treat storm water.
LEED is a third-party certification program that encourages sustainable green building practices by recognizing environmentally friendly developments.