When the New Terminal 1 opens this year as part of a $19 billion John F. Kennedy Airport renovation, it will have a state-of-the-art microgrid that includes New York’s largest solar array, six onsite fuel cells and a backup storage system that will enable the terminal to meet 50% of projected energy demand for 2050, according to an ESG report, From the Ground Up, prepared by the terminal.
The 2.6 million square feet terminal is designed to handle up to 23 million passengers annually. It will have 23 gates and a transportation center to support a fleet of electric ground service equipment. The microgrid will be the largest in the United States, at 12-megawatts. The terminal will be managed by a comprehensive building system built on Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure software. The system includes integration of the microgrid with the terminal’s energy management system.
The microgrid is part of the terminal’s plan for maintaining operations in the face of energy uncertainty, Erik Mohn, head of sustainability in the Americas for Schneider Electric Advisory Services, told Facilities Dive. “Across the globe we’re seeing some fairly unprecedented levels of energy volatility, price increases [and] risk of disruptions from either physical or market forces,” Mohn said in an interview. “Microgrids can be a very effective hedge and resiliency play from a facilities perspective.”
Green approach
New Terminal 1 is supported by more than $3.9 billion in green bonds issued between 2024 and 2025, the report says. The bonds, along with performance contracts intended to give predictability to energy costs into the future, showcase innovative financing methods that facility managers can leverage to move faster towards decarbonization, Mohn said.
“In many cases, you move faster … than just waiting for incumbent grid or electrical suppliers to get around to deploying those new technologies themselves,” he said.
The fuel cells, for example, give the facility the ability to respond to demand spikes or hikes in generation costs while securing a supply of energy that will last for decades, he said.
Through a partnership with TCR Group, an airport ground support company, New Terminal 1 will become the first airport terminal in the world to commit to a centralized fleet of all-electric ground support equipment. The fleet will help the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport, to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, a Schneider Electric press release states.
“It’s not just pickup trucks and buses,” Mohn said. “It’s [plane] tugs, fueling trucks and very specialized equipment.”
Integrated facility management giant JLL will operate the facility’s building mechanicals and electric power monitoring systems and switchgear, which gives the company a role in managing the charging stations for TCR Group, according to Koley MacKay, managing director of aviation at JLL.
Outside of electricity used for operations, the terminal project is tackling sustainability in other ways, including by diverting some 288,000 tons of construction waste through recycling since 2023 and lowering construction-related emissions, according to Mohn.
The project placed a large emphasis on prioritizing low-carbon building materials, he said.
Separate from these performance metrics, the most important outcomes of the project might be those that can’t be captured, Mohn said.
“This isn’t purely a bolt-on energy solution or climate solution from the JFK team,” Mohn said. “It’s from the ground up. A focus on ESG that spans not only the energy and climate aspects of it, but also ensures that as the project moved forward, there was a commitment to other areas of the ESG spectrum.”
Health and well-being, gender equality through diversity goals and internal programs for clean water and sanitation are among the factors that aren’t readily measured but important, he said.
More than 10,000 jobs were generated through the life of the project, including more than 6,000 union construction jobs, and more than $1 billion in contracts went to minority- and women-owned business enterprises.
“This is a really very well-rounded project in terms of its touch points around the landscape of ESG that go beyond … what you can measure in megawatts and kilowatts,” he said.
