Sun, Oct 25, 2015
When Completed, It Will Be The Largest Such System In North America
If you're flying in or out of Nashville International Airport, you're going to be seeing some interesting construction taking place east of Runway 2R/20L. In an innovative use of a former rock quarry, the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority (MNAA) has broken ground on what will be the largest geothermal lake plate cooling system in North America. The historic sustainability project is expected to be completed in summer 2016.
Located east of Donelson Pike and Nashville International Airport (BNA) Runway 2R/20L is the former 43-acre Hoover rock quarry, with an average depth of 150 feet, containing approximately 1.5 billion gallons of water. At a depth of 50 feet, the water is 50 degrees Fahrenheit year round.
The project takes advantage of that cool temperature by circulating water through geothermal heat exchangers submerged in the quarry to the airport terminal’s central plant, providing cooling for the entire terminal. In addition to the geothermal system, the project will also allow for the use of the quarry water for landscape irrigation.
“This is a remarkable project for its scope, ingenuity and efficiency,” said Rob Wigington, president and CEO of MNAA. “The Airport Authority is committed to making sustainability an integral part of our business model. Not because sustainability is easy—rather, it is often a complex process—but because the benefits to our airports, the region and our environment are overwhelmingly positive. This historic project will significantly reduce our electricity usage and potable water consumption, which will result in substantial annual utility savings. This is the very essence of sustainability.”
The project is expected to reduce electricity usage by 6,000 kilowatts of peak demand and result in annual savings of 1.3 million kilowatt-hours and 30 million gallons of potable water. The utility savings to MNAA are expected to be more than $430,000 per year.
(Images provided with MNAA news release)
More News
According To The Witness, Once The Airplane Landed, It Continued To Roll In A Relatively Straight Line Until It Impacted A Tree In His Front Yard On November 4, 2025, about 12:45 e>[...]
"In the frame-by-frame photos from the surveillance video, the left engine can be seen rotating upward from the wing, and as it detaches from the wing, a fire ignites that engulfs >[...]
Radar Required A term displayed on charts and approach plates and included in FDC NOTAMs to alert pilots that segments of either an instrument approach procedure or a route are not>[...]
From 2023 (YouTube Edition): It’s a Small World After All… Founded in 2011 by pilot, aircraft designer and builder, and U.S. Air Force veteran Sam Watrous, Uncasville,>[...]
Also: UFC Buys Tecnams, Emirates B777-9 Buy, Allegiant Pickets, F-22 And MQ-20 The NTSB's preliminary report on the UPS Flight 2976 crash has focused on the left engine pylon's sep>[...]
NTSB Prelim: Funk B85C
See All