By: Iyonne Rippie, PE, P. Eng | Mechanical Principal
Building performance engineering has evolved significantly over the past several decades. In my more than 35 years of delivering mechanical engineering solutions for complex facilities, I have seen the industry move beyond traditional code-driven design approaches. What was once focused primarily on meeting minimum requirements has become a more integrated discipline — balancing energy efficiency, resilience, sustainability, operational reliability and occupant experience. This shift is most evident in aviation and transit infrastructure.
Airports and transit facilities are highly complex, energy-intensive environments that must operate continuously while adapting to changing technologies, evolving regulations, increasing passenger expectations and ambitious sustainability goals.
Across North America, airport and transit authorities are investing heavily in facility expansions, modernization programs, electrification initiatives and long-term decarbonization strategies. As these organizations work to increase capacity, improve resilience and reduce carbon emissions, building performance has become more than an energy conversation. It is now a critical component of operational success and long-term asset management.
Building performance as a long-term strategic investment
Organizations typically approach building performance in one of two ways: as a compliance requirement or as a strategic investment.
Compliance focuses on achieving minimum regulatory standards. While necessary, it often represents the starting point rather than the ultimate objective. Leading transportation agencies are increasingly treating building performance as a strategic investment. Many agencies recognize that facilities play an active role in achieving broader organizational goals, including reducing operating costs, extending asset life and improving passenger comfort, resilience and sustainability performance.
Consider a modern building management system: its value extends well beyond tracking energy consumption. When implemented strategically, it can optimize operations based on occupancy patterns, identify maintenance issues before they become failures, improve occupant comfort, support decarbonization objectives and provide valuable data for future planning decisions.
Unlike compliance-driven expenditures, strategic investments are evaluated based on their long-term value. We’ve seen this firsthand across aviation and transit projects throughout the US:
- Energy efficiency and decarbonization: High-efficiency central chiller/boiler plant modernization at Pensacola International Airport.
- Infrastructure resilience and reliability: Thermal ice storage and advanced controls modernization at Miami International Airport.
- Lifecycle cost reduction: High-efficiency mechanical systems and operational strategies implemented for Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA).
- Asset life extension: Critical infrastructure renewal strategy at Pensacola International Airport.
- Operational continuity during construction: Phased modernization programs that allow facilities to remain operational while infrastructure is upgraded.
- Data-driven performance optimization: Commissioning, controls integration and performance validation at Miami International Airport. Compliance ensures a facility meets today’s requirements. Strategic building performance investments help ensure they are prepared for tomorrow’s operational, financial and sustainability challenges.
The greatest opportunity often occurs early in the planning and design process, when decisions have the most significant influence on lifecycle costs and long-term performance.
Energy performance and infrastructure modernization
Airports consume substantial amounts of energy to support terminal operations, baggage handling systems, passenger boarding bridges, utility plants, security systems and an increasing number of digital technologies. As facilities expand and electrical demands continue to grow, owners must balance energy requirements with carbon reduction targets, renewable energy integration and resilience objectives.
Building performance engineering helps owners evaluate options that improve energy efficiency while maintaining operational reliability. This can include high-efficiency mechanical systems, advanced energy management strategies, renewable energy integration and load optimization measures that reduce energy consumption without compromising performance.
Transit agencies face many of the same challenges. Fleet electrification, rail modernization programs and expanded service requirements are driving significant increases in electrical infrastructure demand. Maintenance facilities, operations centers, stations and traction power systems must be able to support charging infrastructure, energy storage, load management strategies and future growth.
Successful programs begin with a thorough understanding of existing infrastructure, operational requirements and long-term objectives. Through energy studies, lifecycle cost analysis, system modeling and facility assessments, owners can make informed decisions about where investments will deliver the greatest value.
Emerging technologies are driving better performance
Technology plays an important role in the health, performance and longevity of buildings. Today’s building performance strategies are supported by a range of technologies and analytical tools that help owners better understand and optimize facility operations.
These may include:
- High-efficiency HVAC systems incorporating advanced heat pumps, thermal storage, heat recovery technologies and intelligent controls.
- Energy modeling and simulation tools that evaluate system performance before construction.
- Digital twin platforms that provide real-time operational monitoring, predictive maintenance insights and performance analytics.
- Microgrid technologies that enhance resilience and support renewable energy integration.
- Integrated building management systems that connect HVAC, lighting, security, shading and other building systems into a unified operating platform.
These technologies provide owners with deeper operational insight, helping them identify opportunities to reduce energy consumption, improve reliability, strengthen resilience and make informed capital planning decisions.
Airports and transit facilities are also increasingly becoming active participants in the broader energy ecosystem. Facilities are expected to consume energy efficiently and support grid resilience, accommodate renewable energy resources, manage peak electrical demand and incorporate energy storage solutions. Building performance engineering helps organizations evaluate these opportunities through a holistic and data-driven approach.
Delivering integrated solutions for transportation infrastructure
Successfully implementing performance strategies within transportation environments requires more than technical expertise. It requires a deep understanding of how these facilities operate.
Airports and transit systems present unique challenges, including continuous operations, phased construction, aging infrastructure, stringent life-safety requirements, resilience planning, electrification initiatives, sustainability commitments and rapidly evolving technology systems. Balancing these competing priorities requires close collaboration among architects, engineers, operators and stakeholders.
At EXP, and throughout my career, I have worked on a wide range of transportation and infrastructure projects, including airport terminals, transit stations, maintenance facilities, central utility plants and institutional campuses. These projects have addressed challenges ranging from aging infrastructure renewal and energy optimization to operational continuity, resilience planning and electrification.
EXP’s work throughout North America serves as an example of how technology, building performance and strategic investments blend to shape the future of aviation in the region.
- For Pensacola International Airport, EXP developed a comprehensive HVAC modernization strategy that converts all unitary HVAC systems to a modern high-efficiency central chiller/boiler plant. This transition improves resilience and reliability, increases energy efficiency, supports decarbonization and expansion and extends the useful life of critical infrastructure. The strategy also allowed the airport to remain fully operational throughout construction.
- At Miami International Airport, a phased chiller plant infrastructure modernization project incorporated large-scale thermal ice storage systems that optimize energy consumption by shifting cooling loads away from peak utility demand periods. While technology itself was important, achieving intended performance required equally sophisticated control strategies and upgrades to the facility’s direct digital control systems. The project relied heavily on a rigorous, data-driven commissioning process that measured real-world operating performance and validated design assumptions.
- For Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), we evaluated facility energy performance and resilience requirements, resulting in the implementation of high-efficiency mechanical systems, advanced controls and operational strategies that reduced lifecycle costs while improving occupant comfort and reliability.
These projects reinforce an important lesson: the most successful infrastructure investments are those that address today’s operational needs while preparing facilities for tomorrow’s challenges.
At EXP, our multidisciplinary team of architects, engineers and technical specialists partner with airport authorities and transit agencies to develop practical, performance-driven solutions. By combining industry experience with advanced analysis and emerging technologies, we help owners improve energy efficiency, strengthen resilience, enhance operational reliability and maximize the return on their capital investments.
As transportation infrastructure continues to evolve, building performance will increasingly become a fundamental component of creating safe and adaptable facilities for future generations.
Solutions that address today’s needs and support future goals
The decisions we make to improve infrastructure today also highlight an important role for engineers —the responsibility to help the next generation understand that building performance engineering is more than designing systems.
To build on the decisions we make today, which will also affect the future, we must prepare engineers to advance electrification, renewable energy adoption, digital technologies and resilience planning. As facilities become more complex and interconnected, building performance will play an even greater role in determining operational success.
Connect with our team to learn about building performance engineering for transportation facilities.
- Iyonne Iyonne Rippie, PE, P. Eng – Mechanical Principal
- Svetan Veliov, PE – Vice President – Buildings