Arora Leads ABE’s LEED Gold Terminal for World Sustainability Day

In honor of World Sustainability Day 2025, Arora Engineers (Arora) proudly celebrates the Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority’s (LNAA) Terminal Modernization Project, a $35 million transformation Arora led which recently earned LEED Gold Certification, making it one of the few regional airport terminals in the U.S. to achieve this distinction.

As the prime consultant, Arora set out to do more than meet LEED certification, we sought to work with LNAA to transform how passengers experience the airport. Guided by our ethos of Rethinking Infrastructure®, the project showcases how innovation and collaboration can make sustainability tangible, improving how people move, breathe, and connect. For the 900,000+ passengers who pass through Lehigh Valley International Airport (ABE) each year, the result is a terminal that delivers greater comfort, cleaner air, and smarter operations for years to come.

“From the very beginning, our goal was to create a terminal experience that reflects who we are as a region—efficient, forward-thinking, and focused on people,” said Ryan Meyer, Director of Planning and Programming at LNAA. “We wanted to modernize not just the building, but the passenger journey itself. Arora’s team understood that vision from day one and helped us deliver a space that’s sustainable, comfortable, and ready for the future.”

Arora’s Project Manager Kevin Sultanik led our multidisciplinary team in delivering one of the nation’s first Bipartisan Infrastructure Law-funded airport projects to finish on time and on budget. Senior Mechanical Engineer Anastacia Michigan drove the project’s indoor air quality and energy modeling efforts, helping deliver 27.3% energy savings while pioneering an adaptable HVAC “pandemic mode” for safer air travel. Plumbing Discipline Lead, Donna Guzewski, oversaw system designs that achieved a 38% reduction in water use, conserving over 57,000 gallons annually without compromising reliability.

Together, ABE and Arora transformed a previously congested facility into a modern 26,000SF terminal connector that not only enhances passenger flow and comfort but sets a new benchmark for sustainable airport design.

Rethinking the Passenger Experience Through Sustainable Design

Before this modernization, passengers at ABE navigated an underground tunnel to move between terminals, a design that no longer met modern accessibility, comfort, or operational standards. LNAA set out to transform that journey, creating a brighter, safer, and more efficient connection that would better serve the region’s growing travel demands.

Arora was entrusted to lead the project from concept through completion, providing comprehensive planning, design, and construction phase services. As prime consultant, Arora managed and coordinated mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection, fire alarm, and special systems design, as well as overall project and construction management and administration. We also managed a team of eight expert subconsultants providing support for civil/geotechnical engineering, architecture, structural, cost estimating, and vertical circulation services. The team also supported LNAA in securing grant funding, including through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, ensuring that sustainability goals could be achieved without compromising cost or schedule.

Through this multidisciplinary approach, Arora delivered a state-of-the-art, 26,000SF elevated terminal connector that redefined how passengers move through ABE. The new facility includes capacity for up to four advanced TSA screening lanes, secure exit portals, modern oversized elevators and escalators that improve vertical circulation, and simplified wayfinding that separates arriving and departing flows. The connector integrates innovative sustainable building features such as dynamic glazing, an enhanced air purification system through LifeAire, and high-efficiency restrooms—all designed to elevate comfort while reducing energy consumption and long-term maintenance.

“As project manager, my goal was to help deliver a terminal that was as energy-efficient and environmentally responsible as it was welcoming to passengers,” said Kevin Sultanik, Project Manager. “We worked closely with LNAA to ensure every design decision supported their vision of a facility that enhances comfort, streamlines operations, and reduces long-term costs.”

Healthier Air, Smarter Energy: Innovation in Action

As the world was grappling with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, LNAA emerged as a leader in reimagining what air quality could mean for public transportation. Recognizing early on that healthier air was critical to traveler confidence and staff safety, LNAA directed the design team to make indoor air quality and virus mitigation a top priority in the terminal’s modernization. The Airport’s leadership introduced the LifeAire System, a cutting-edge, medical-grade air purification technology, and challenged Arora to integrate it into the design as part of a broader strategy to create a healthier, more resilient environment for passengers and employees.

“Indoor air quality is incredibly important for airports due to the sheer volume of travelers,” Senior Mechanical Engineer Anastacia Michigan explained. “You can’t guarantee the health of everyone passing through, but implementing measures to mitigate the spread of disease leads to healthier passengers, staff, and ultimately healthier communities.”

Michigan led the documentation for LEED Thermal Comfort and Indoor Air Quality credits while coordinating the HVAC systems that made those standards possible. The airport was the first in the world to deploy the LifeAire System, a medical grade air purification system that eradicates 99.99% of airborne and surface pathogens. Her design helped the authority incorporate multiple indoor air quality (IAQ) strategies, including UV germicidal lighting, increased ventilation rates, and the LifeAire system.

“The LifeAire system was an inspiring design challenge,” she recalled. “It’s integration required modifications to the main HVAC layout, but it was well worth it to bring a proven healthcare technology into an airport setting. It represents a major step forward for passenger health and confidence in air travel.”

Michigan’s team also developed a “pandemic mode” control sequence for the air handlers, allowing the airport to seamlessly transition between energy-efficient daily operation and enhanced outdoor air circulation during times of public health concern.

“During normal operation, the system runs efficiently,” said Michigan. “But when there’s a public health concern, the airport can activate pandemic mode to bring in more fresh air, giving travelers greater peace of mind about the air they’re breathing.”

By blending flexibility with performance, Arora’s design achieved 27.3% energy savings while prioritizing health, safety, and adaptability, embodying the firm’s mission of Rethinking Infrastructure® for a safer, more sustainable future.

Smarter Water Use and Sustainable Systems

While passengers experience a brighter, cleaner terminal above ground, Plumbing Discipline Lead Donna Guzewski and her team engineered critical sustainability solutions below it. By specifying WaterSense-labeled fixtures and metered water systems Guzewski helped achieve a 38% reduction in water use, saving more than 57,000 gallons per year. Guzewski’s coordination with mechanical and architectural teams also ensured low-VOC materials and sealants were used, contributing to improved indoor air quality and helping the project earn key LEED credits. Her designs ensure the plumbing systems operate efficiently under high passenger throughput, supporting ABE’s sustainability goals without sacrificing durability or hygiene.

“In airports, plumbing systems have to do more than save water, they have to withstand constant use while keeping the environment clean and comfortable,” said Guzewski. “We designed every system for long-term performance and maintainability.”

A Model for the Future of Sustainable Aviation

The LEED Gold certification at ABE represents far more than a design milestone, it is a blueprint for how regional airports can balance sustainability, safety, and efficiency through integrated design and collaboration. From the outset, LNAA was deeply invested in creating a more sustainable and resilient facility. When the project began during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the authority introduced the LifeAire System, a cutting-edge air purification technology typically used in healthcare environments, and tasked Arora with integrating it into the design. The team collaborated closely with LNAA to adapt the mechanical system to accommodate this new technology, ultimately helping make ABE the first airport in the world to deploy LifeAire for the benefit of their passengers, staff, and community at large.

For Kevin, the success of ABE’s Terminal Modernization lies in the deliberate, disciplined approach that defined every phase of the project.

“From the very beginning, LNAA made it clear that their priority was delivering a sustainable, forward-looking project that would qualify for critical grant funding,” said Sultanik. “Our role was to collaborate closely with the Airport to translate that vision into practical design solutions, balancing sustainability, safety, passenger experience, and cost-effectiveness at every step. The result reflects what’s possible when client direction and technical expertise work hand in hand.”

“Our work at ABE pushed us to rethink how airports manage indoor air quality and comfort,” Michigan explained. “The research and technologies we explored with our partners at ABE, like advanced air purification and flexible ventilation controls, are now being applied to other aviation and public spaces. It’s exciting to see one project ripple outward and set new expectations for what healthy design looks like.”

And for Donna Guzewski, sustainable airport design isn’t just about the environment, it’s about reliability and resilience.

“Airports operate around the clock and see thousands of passengers daily,” said Guzewski. “Designing plumbing systems that conserve water, reduce maintenance, and last for decades means lower operating costs and less waste over time. It’s sustainability that works in the real world.”

At ABE, that mindset translated into measurable outcomes:

• 27.3% total energy savings, validated through building energy simulation.
• 38% reduction in water use, saving more than 57,000 gallons annually.
• Deployment of the LifeAire System, the first of its kind in any airport, removing 99.99% of airborne pathogens.
• Implementation of dynamic glazing and advanced ventilation controls that improve comfort while minimizing energy load.

These achievements build on Arora’s national leadership in sustainable aviation, with LEED-certified projects spanning Boston Logan International Airport, LaGuardia International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport, San Jose International Airport, and Kansas City International Airport. Across each, Arora applies the same integrated methodology leveraging the latest developments in energy conservation, resource efficiency, and indoor air quality improvements along with energy modeling, IoT-enabled monitoring, and building management systems to help clients optimize facility performance well beyond project completion.

Beyond project delivery, Arora practices sustainability internally through responsible operations and measurable offsets. The firm has planted over 4,000 trees nationwide via our partnership with One Tree Planted, offsetting more than 90,000 pounds of carbon emissions, and continues to expand its digital transformation initiatives to reduce paper waste, travel, and energy consumption across all offices.

“Every project is an opportunity to push the boundaries of what sustainable infrastructure can be,” said Sultanik. “At ABE, we proved that forward-thinking design can make airports not just greener but cleaner, healthier, and better for everyone who passes through them.”

For the LNAA, this modernization marks a new era of comfort, accessibility, and sustainability for more than 900,000 travelers each year. For Arora, it reaffirms a guiding belief: when infrastructure is rethought with purpose, performance, and people in mind, it becomes more than a structure, it becomes a catalyst for a healthier, more sustainable world.

On World Sustainability Day 2025, Arora celebrates not just a LEED Gold certification, but the power of Rethinking Infrastructure® to ensure a more resilient future for aviation and beyond.

Read our full scope of work here.