Net Zero Pilot: Airfield Operations Facility

San Francisco International Airport committed its 14.5-million-square-foot campus to net zero energy. On the airfield, the LEED Gold Airfield Operations Facility was designed to net zero itself, yet consumed nearly twice its energy model with no data explaining the gap. MKThink instrumented the 19,400-square-foot facility with circuit-level meters, occupancy sensors, and temperature and plug-load monitoring across a 180-device inventory.

The data showed HVAC alone accounted for 45 percent of energy use against a modeled 7 percent, pointing to scheduling and always-on equipment as the real drivers. Acting on those findings, SFO standardized HVAC setpoints and moved staff to laptops. By July 2017, the building reached or approached net zero on 18 of 31 days, including thirteen that surpassed it outright, with net energy down 84 percent from 2015 and no added solar. The approach became the airport's standard method for assessing energy performance across the remaining buildings in its 135-building campus.