City spending $1.3M on HVAC unit at Dayton International Airport

Dayton International Airport (Cornelius Frolik/Staff)

Dayton International Airport (Cornelius Frolik/Staff)

The Dayton City Commission tonight approved spending $1.3 million for a climate control system that will work with a new heating, ventilation and air conditioning unit being installed on the main terminal at Dayton International Airport, city aviation director Terry Slaybaugh said Wednesday night.

The system will allow airport operators to control the climate inside all 360,000 square feet of the terminal, he said, making the environment more comfortable for airport passengers and employees. The system also will save the city 22 percent to 25 percent in utility costs, which Slaybaugh said now run $1.1 million to $1.2 million a year.

Slaybaugh said the HVAC unit has not been upgraded in roughly 40 years, even while airport facilities have been upgraded during that time.

Tonight’s contract approval for the $7 million HVAC unit is part of a continuing $130 million plan to renovate the terminal over the next decade, Slaybaugh said.

He said that also on Wednesday, the city successfully sold $32 million in bonds, the proceeds of which will be used to pay for the HVAC unit and the first phase of renovations for the terminal’s front canopy and main entrance to the airport.

Work on those projects, estimated to cost $16 million, are to begin in spring 2017, he said.