The Business Value of Enterprise Energy Management at DFW Airport

Abstract

The Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport has a long track
record of success in conventional energy management. For 20 years, this
technically oriented program existed principally as an initiative of the
airport’s maintenance department, and flourished in a stable environ-
ment characterized by plentiful resources and little competitive pres-
sure. Although successful in producing technical accomplishments and
cost reductions, the program never achieved broad corporate impact.
In the mid-1990s, under the leadership of a new CEO, DFW
adopted a business-oriented posture focusing on service quality and
competitiveness. Although slow to adapt to the changing internal and
external environments, by 1999 the maintenance department succeeded
in reinventing itself by radically changing its business model and adapt-
ing its structure and processes to the new competitive landscape. New
department leadership leveraged existing core competencies to recreate
the energy management program with an enterprise orientation. They
were subsequently able to demonstrate to executive management how
the new model supported strategic business objectives and directly con-
tributed to DFW’s competitive advantage. Enterprise energy manage-
ment was represented as a core business function that supported inter-
nal objectives (business growth, customer satisfaction, asset renewal)
and addressed external factors (electric industry deregulation, environ-
mental issues) by virtue of its positive impact on cost effectiveness, asset
productivity and performance, resource utilization, and regional public
policy.