Earth Day 2024: Powering a Cleaner, Greener Future at PIT

Hidden behind Pittsburgh International Airport’s four runways and two terminals (plus one in progress) is a microgrid – the one power source that keeps it all running.

PIT is the only airport in the world to be completely powered by a microgrid fueled by natural gas and solar energy. Since it opened in 2021, the microgrid, which includes 10,000 solar panels, has racked up multiple industry awards.

Last fall, PIT won Environmental Sustainability Airport of the Year, an honor from the Centre of Aviation (CAPA). In March, the airport’s microgrid was honored with the Jay Hollingsworth Speas Award – acknowledged for enhancing the relationship between airports and their surrounding environments.

The microgrid isn’t the only source of buzz at the airport. PIT has ten apiaries, or bee yards, not far from the site of the microgrid. In celebration of Earth Day, PIT’s apiaries held a demonstration on Earth Day, providing an inside look to the inner workings of the bee yards.

The apiaries increase public safety by helping to prevent swarms on the airfield while also promoting sustainability. The 4 million bees across the airport’s 8,800 acres are helping to repopulate queen bees throughout the region.

By 2025, PIT will have a new terminal, and it’s tracking toward LEED Gold certification – an identification of a building’s sustainable infrastructure and operations.

To learn more about how PIT is keeping its airport green, check out the video below.