Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport (MKE) Improves Environmental Footprint with Installation of Optec LED Lighting

The Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport (MKE) is reducing its environmental footprint with the installation of LED lights throughout the airport.

This project began in mid-summer 2022 and includes 575 luminaires installed throughout the tarmac for Concourse D and C; employee, cab and Remote Lot A parking lots; the MKE Regional Business Park; roadway poles; terminal loading docks; maintenance, fleet and electrical buildings and poles; the parking structure entrance; and the canopy pay station after exiting the parking structure.

Multiple brands and companies were considered, Optec LED Lighting was among the contenders, providing tester samples for a thorough six-month evaluation.

"They compared our performance with the performance of other brands. At the end of the day, they felt that Optec is indeed a product with satisfactory performance, so they decided to go with us,” said Optec LED Lighting Director of Sales Jerry Luan.

This decision led to a phased implementation covering various sections of the airport over a year and a half. The incremental approach to the project allowed the airport and Optec's team to continually assess and review the performance of each lighting section.

"It's made a great appearance to the airport and visibility-wise for our patrons and the employees working at the airlines over there, it's a much safer condition for them,” said MKE Electrical Supervisor Dale Hardy

Before the upgrade, the airport predominantly used non-LED lights.

"The old HID high-intensity lighting was getting old and worn... but now, we've had those fixtures up over a year now just about and we haven't had to visit one since,” said Hardy.

Benefits of LED Lighting:

Energy savings, ranging from 50% to 75%, make LED lighting a compelling choice for large energy consumers like airports.

"Energy-saving is certainly the number one factor for people who make that type of purchase or upgrading decisions,” Luan said. “For the features that the GMI airport used from Optec, it carries a minimum of five-year warranty... the issues, after sales or after the install is very minimal."

Color Rendering Index (CRI) above 80 was also identified as a significant benefit, enhancing color visibility in security camera footage. Luan said, "For LED, it's under 80 CRI. That's the product we provide to the airport. It's very easy to pinpoint from the security footage what exact color that object is."

Hardy said there is also less maintenance involved with LED lighting, “If these lights are going to last us five, six years, that's less often we're visiting them to fix them or repair them or replace ballast and transformers and whatnot.”

Regarding ROI, Laun explained that it varies based on customer-specific and usage-specific factors. For the airport, running lights for 12 to 14 hours daily, the anticipated ROI is approximately three years.

"Each customer has their different method tracking this... But every customer has their own method or their own approach,” Luan said.

Hardy said the airport is considering future plans for extending LED lighting to additional areas.