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MAC receives Technology and Innovation in Environmental Stewardship Award

In April 2015, the Minnesota Department of Transportation presented its Technology and Innovation in Environmental Stewardship Award to the Metropolitan Airports Commission. The MAC won the award for its Energy conservation Program and solar energy generation project.

The MAC launched its Energy Conservation Program in 1998 to reduce energy consumption and costs. The program focuses on energy-saving facility improvements and leverages partnerships with STAR, Xcel Energy and CenterPoint Energy. Through the program, the MAC and its energy supply partners identify projects with a short return on investment through energy cost savings and rebates.

There has been a particular focus on Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport’s Energy Management Center, which heats and cools buildings throughout the MSP campus. In addition, projects have included improvements to mechanical, electrical, lighting, conveyance and facility control systems as well as energy upgrades to building exteriors.

Since 1998, the MAC has invested $18.5 million in energy-saving projects through the program. Those projects have cumulatively reduced energy costs by $35.2 million, providing the MAC a net savings of $16.7 million.

MSP Airport includes 3.2 million square feet of terminal space, 6 million square feet of lighted runways and more than 22,000 public parking spaces, making it one of Minnesota’s single largest energy consumers – and an ideal candidate for conservation and renewable energy projects.

“MSP’s carbon footprint has shrunk by 30 percent since the Energy Conservation Program’s inception,” said MAC Executive Vice President Dennis Probst. “We’re proving that responsible social and environmental actions are also smart financially -- and in the process ensuring Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport can be operated sustainably well into the future.”

Work on MSP’s new 3-megawatt solar energy generation system – the largest in Minnesota -- began in October 2014 and will be completed this fall. When operating at peak capacity the new system, which sits atop Terminal 1’s Blue and Red parking ramps, will generate nearly 20 percent of MSP’s total power supply. The project also converts more than 7,700 traditional metal halide light fixtures to energy-saving LED technology and adds four more electric vehicle charging stations to the airport’s ramps.

The historic project will eliminate the equivalent of 6,813 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually. That’s equal to eliminating emissions from 1,434 passenger vehicles or carbon dioxide emissions from 937 homes’ electricity use each year. What’s more, the project will, over 30 years, generate more than $10 million of net present value cash flow to the MAC

The solar initiative was funded with a $2 million grant from Xcel Energy and $23.3 million in Qualified Energy Conservation Bond allotments assigned by seven nearby governmental entities: Anoka, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott and Wright counties and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Only $100,000 of MAC cash will be needed to develop the system. The MAC will pay off the bonds at the incredibly low interest rate of 0.75 percent. Thrivent Financial, a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Minneapolis, is providing the financing.