Fraport: Groundbreaking for new fire station near runway Northwest

With today's groundbreaking for Frankfurt Airport's new Fire Station 4 near the future Northwest Runway, Fraport AG (the owner and manager of FRA), reached another milestone in its Airport Expansion Program. "The new building not only meets our stringent safety concept, but also is Fraport's first building to achieve zero net operating carbon emissions," explained Fraport AG executive board chairman Dr. Stefan Schulte.

As a passive house, it will require 90 percent less energy for heating and cooling than a conventional fire station. The heating and cooling demand is provided by geothermal heat pumps. The electricity required for the pumps will come from renewable energy sources. A 20 square-meter solar thermal system on the building's south façade will ensure hot water generation.

"Capital spending for the project will amount to €13 million, including the additional costs required for implementing our sustainable building and energy concept," said Schulte. The concept will pay off in the long term. Peter Schmitz, Fraport executive board member responsible for real estate and facility management, added: "Due to savings in investment costs for heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) systems and because there will be no need for costly connections to district heating and gas supply, we will be able to keep building costs at a low level and reduce operating and maintenance costs by half."

Featuring 4,000 square meters, the new two-level fire station will be the workplace for approximately 50 firemen in the future. Completion of the new fire station is scheduled for the beginning of 2011. The adjacent fire training area is expected to be operational at the end of 2011.

The new structure is necessary because an additional fire station is required near the new Runway Northwest. Under the stringent standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the airport fire services must achieve response times of no more than three minutes to any point of Runway Northwest and its associated taxiways and taxiway bridges. This standard also applies for the existing airport area with its two parallel runways and Runway West. To provide the necessary level of protection, the new Fire Station 4 – like the existing airport fire stations – must feature the necessary rescue and fire-fighting equipment and extinguishing agents. These include: 32,300 liters of water for foam production, 450 kilograms of extinguishing powders, three fire-fighting vehicles as well as equipment for rescue work and indoor fire fighting.

The fire training area adjacent to the new fire station will allow Fraport to concentrate all fire training facilities at a single location. Currently, they are spread all over the airport site. "With the new training area, Frankfurt Airport will be able to continue providing top quality training in fire protection, rescue services and aircraft recovery in the future – not only for our own staff but also for employees of other airports," said Schulte. Other airport fire departments from throughout Germany, Eastern Europe and the Middle East have been utilizing Fraport's internationally recognized training programs and expertise.

(c) Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation. Date posted: 05-Feb-10