Norfolk Ram Group, LLC, a leading environmental engineering firm with extensive geothermal project experience through its National Geothermal Division, has begun work on a geothermal installation at the Portland International Jetport as part of the airport's $75 million terminal expansion project. When the installation is complete, the Jetport will be one of the first commercial airports in the country to use funds from the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Voluntary Airport Low Emissions (VALE) program for a geothermal system for heating and cooling. The installation is scheduled to be completed in October and operational in July 2011.
"Airports are one of the country's largest contributors of greenhouse gases," said Mark Bartlett, president of National Geothermal. "Air travel is a necessity, but until there are clean flight technologies, installing a geothermal heating and cooling system makes sense for airport managers who want to reduce their facilities' environmental impact. We are excited to work with the Portland Jetport to help it offset its environmental impact by becoming one of the first airports in the United States with a geothermal heating and cooling system."
The VALE program is funding the project with a $2.53 million grant to the city. The installation will consist of a total of 120 boreholes, 500 feet deep, adding up to more than 60,000 feet of ground loop coil. When complete, the Jetport estimates it will reduce its oil consumption by more than 100,000 gallons each year, and is expected to save more than $10 million in oil usage costs during the life of the geothermal system. The VALE program allows airport sponsors to use the Airport Improvement Program (AIP) funds to make airport air quality improvements and partially finance, up to 95%, major capital investments that reduce tonnage of ozone emissions.