LAX Rent-A-Car facility being delivered by Fengate-led LAX ConRAC Partners recognized for sustainability excellence by U.S. Green Business Council–Los Angeles

Los Angeles International Airport’s (LAX) Consolidated Rent-A-Car (ConRAC) facility has been recognized with an Energy and Operational Carbon Design Merit award from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Los Angeles chapter (USGBC-LA).

To realize its vision for the project, Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) coordinated efforts with LAX ConRAC Partners (LAXCP), the project’s design, build, finance, operate and maintain (DBFOM) consortium led by Fengate Asset Management (Fengate).

Together, they have positively impacted the local community by operating sustainably and balancing economic, social and environmental responsibilities. To date, the project has created more than 5,000 jobs and $200 million in wages for the local workforce.

The facility’s recent achievement follows news of the project receiving Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold v4 certification from USGBC’s national assembly. The newest honor also adds to a list of design, sustainability and finance distinctions that the ConRAC facility has collected in the lead up to its opening in 2024.

“The U.S. Green Building Council is a global leader in sustainable building design, consistently setting the bar for best practices. To have Council’s national and local chapters recognize LAX’s ConRAC facility with distinctions is incredibly significant and demonstrates that our mission to promote environmental, social and economic sustainability across LAWA is having real positive impact,” said Bea Hsu, Interim Chief Executive Officer at LAWA.

“I am grateful to LAWA’s staff and our project partners, as well as the rental car tenants who will soon call the ConRAC facility home, for their role in helping to realize this thoughtfully designed and resilient project.”

“Close collaboration between Los Angeles World Airports and the LAX ConRAC Partners team enabled the public-private partnership to not only deliver the largest ConRAC facility in the world but to exceed our sustainability targets and positively impact the community, economy and environment,” said Karl Schaefer, LAX ConRAC Project Executive at Fengate.

The ConRAC facility achieves an impressive 36% energy use reduction and an operational carbon reduction of 1,220,000 pounds per year solely due to efficiency, with additional carbon savings gained through sustainable electrification measures, reduction of heat island effect and alternative transportation options.

By relocating rental car companies into one convenient location adjacent to the 405 freeway – as well as providing a direct connection to LAX’s Automated People Mover (APM) train system – the ConRAC will eliminate the approximately 3,200 daily shuttle trips, alleviating traffic congestion on local streets and around the airport’s Central Terminal Area.

A 4.8-megawatt photovoltaic solar panel array integrated into the ConRAC’s façades, roofs and parking canopies will produce 8,400 megawatt hours of electricity annually. This power will be sent directly to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) via the department’s Feed in Tariff (FiT) program. Additional energy efficiency and carbon footprint reductions are achieved through:

• The building’s envelope design that reduces cooling loads
• An HVAC system that minimizes wasted energy
• High-efficiency lighting and a unique control system that was invented specifically for the ConRAC that eliminates miles of wire, plastic and other materials
• A cleaner grid in the site area that allows for an all-electric project, significantly reducing operational carbon.

On October 26, 2018, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved the Public-Private Partnership (P3) agreement between LAWA and LAXCP. The LAXCP team includes:

Developer: Fengate Asset Management and PCL Investments USA, LLC
Design-Build Contractor: PCL Construction Services Inc.
Designer of Record: PGAL, Inc. and AC Martin Partners
Operation and Maintenance Provider: Johnson Controls, Inc.
Quick Turn Around Manager: MVI Field Services, LLC.

Fengate is managing this investment on behalf of the Fengate Infrastructure Fund III and its affiliated entities, including an investment fund owned by LiUNA’s Pension Fund of Central and Eastern Canada.

Learn more about the project at bit.ly/LAX-Transformation.