Brunei airport designed to be eco-friendly

Dec. 01--Bandar Seri Begawan (The Brunei Times/ANN) -- The Brunei International Airport will be upgraded with sustainable design features that are environmentally-friendly and significantly lower energy consumption in the building.

At the 29th Conference of Asean Federation of Engineering Organisations (CAFEO) held at Rizqun yesterday, AECOM Asia, the consultancy firm appointed by the Brunei Economic Development Board (BEDB) for the US$130 million modernisation project of Brunei's airport unveiled the designs for the project, which incorporate eco-friendly features ranging from thermal shading architecture to the installation of energy saving devices.

Neil Bentley, AECOM Asia sector managing director for Aviation, said the sustainability design techniques and innovations would make the upgraded airport environmentally friendly and internationally competitive while enhancing passengers' flying experience in Brunei.

An arched metal roof with a floor-to-roof curtain wall window system will be built on the remodelled departure and arrival halls.

The windows, four metres above the departure level, will be sunscreened on the east and west to eliminate 50 per cent of the solar gain in the spaces.

"This wall system with integral sunscreens will greatly reduce solar heat gain, and thus lowers the energy cost in terms of cooling the interior space," said Bentley.

Both the arrival and departure levels will also be enlivened by plant materials which will be able to survive under the tensile roof, and indoor air quality of the entire building will also be improved.

In the departure holdroom, translucent skylights will be cut into the existing roof, which will provide a good measure of day lighting into the holdroom.

"The skylight will also reduce energy cost due to the use of more natural lighting in that space," he said.

The upgraded airport will feature smart control system that can minimise wastage of energy, such as sleep mode on lifts and escalators and the use of motion sensors to control electric lighting, among others. New water-efficient fittings certified under the Water Efficiency Labeling Scheme (WELS) will also be fitted at the airport to conserve water.

Under the project, the existing airport terminal will be expanded to accommodate three million passengers annually. The planning and design were based on the sustainable approach and in consideration of Brunei's long-term development.

One of the biggest technical challenges in the project was ensuring minimal disruption of daily airport and tenant operations and minimising impact on passengers.

"That's a challenge we always face when we do airport upgrade work because we have to keep them fully operational 24 hours a day while also maintaining aviation security at the same time," Bentley said.

To avoid disruptions, Bentley said that works would be broken into phases.

"We normally do work on new space first and the alternations work on existing space later. We will move the processes and functions into the new space and get it commissioned before we start work on the existing spaces," he said.

He said measures will also be put into place to ensure security will be maintained during the upgrade process.

"Work on existing spaces will be done during overnight operations when the airport is not so busy so that we can get people in there, make the changes at night and then come back the next day and work on the new spaces," he said.

Bentley said the design has already been completed and that the BEDB has awarded the contract to a Malaysian and Bruneian joint venture company recently to begin construction.

"The contractor is currently mobilising, and they are given 36 months to complete the project," he said.