The Green Build — Contract 1 is a tremendous success story for the design-build delivery method. The Terminal portion of the project was a 10-gate, three-level, 460,000 square-foot expansion to an existing nine-gate airport terminal. The airside portion consisted of more than 1.3 million square feet of airside apron paving and additions and upgrades to the existing central utility plant include two 1,250-ton chillers, four 1,250-ton cooling towers and one 400 bhp boiler skid system. The cost of the project was reduced 10 percent from the original estimate due to collaborative value engineering that began in the concept validation phase and continued through completion. The fast-track design-build approach allowed construction to start long before the terminal design was finished, with structural steel topping out four months before building permit approval. Modern design and construction techniques resulted in a LEED Platinum certification from the USGBC, exceeding LEED Silver certification targeted for the project. The challenges on the project were significant: construct the new components while seamlessly integrating into the existing 12-year-old structure, collect and implement end-user input from hundreds of different stakeholders, involve local/small businesses, protect the environment and local wildlife including the endangered California Least Tern’s nesting on site, all while eliminating impacts to the busiest single-runway commercial airport in the United States.

Design-Build Team

Owner: San Diego County Regional Airport Authority
Design-Builder: Turner/PCL/Flatiron
Architects: HNTB Corporation, Tucker Sadler Architects, Swanson Rink, WSP and URS Corporation
Engineers: John A. Martin and Associates and Syska Hennessy Group, Inc.
Specialty Contractors: Helix Electric, Inc., Architectural Energy Corporation, Allana Buick and Bers and Heinaman Contract Glazing
Specialty Consultants: Ross & Baruzzini, Hunt Design Associates, Rolf Jensen & Associates, Finish Hardware Technology, QC Southwest and Criterium Engineers
Specialty Contractors (Design-Build): California Comfort Systems, Siemens Postal, Parcel & Airport Logistics LLC, Cosco Fire Protection, SITA North America and Leidos (formerly Science Applications International Corporation)