Calgary Airport Engine Maintenance Facility, Alberta

Location: Calgary, Alberta
Owner/Operator:  The Calgary Airport Authority; Lufthansa Technik Canada
Architect: Arcadis

How HGC Noise Vibration Acoustics Supported Ambient Sound Level Target Development for YYC Calgary Airport’s New Engine Maintenance Facility

In 2025, Calgary Airports broke ground on a $120M engine maintenance and repair and test cell facility in partnership with Lufthansa Technik Canada and WestJet. This new aviation-support hub is intended to serve next-generation aircraft engines used by North American carriers. The state-of the-art facility is expected to include an engine repair shop and integrated engine test cell, with operations planned within YYC’s broader AeroNex aviation development initiative.

For a facility of this type, acoustical planning is an essential part of early design decision-making. Engine test cells are specialized industrial environments where the primary acoustical concern is not simply the noise generated inside the facility, but how sound from exhaust, inlet and ventilation systems may propagate beyond the site toward neighbouring airport offices, operational buildings and aviation-support facilities. HGC was retained to review ambient sound level conditions and provide recommended sound level limits for nearby properties, including airport operational receptors such as the Nav Canada tower, WestJet Campus offices, the Air Canada Hangar and other nearby office uses.

HGC’s Acoustical Assessment Approach for an Airport Engine Test Cell Environment

HGC began by reviewing previously completed ambient noise monitoring in the area surrounding the proposed Engine Maintenance Facility. This included HGC’s own earlier ambient noise survey as well as acoustic design information prepared by others for the concept-stage facility design. The purpose was to understand the existing sound environment at nearby points of reception before establishing reasonable design targets for future facility noise.

The assessment considered the site’s distinctive airport context. Unlike a typical industrial development adjacent to residential neighbourhoods, this project is located within an active airport environment where aircraft movement, aviation-support operations, vehicle activity and nearby commercial uses all contribute to the surrounding acoustic character. HGC’s role was to interpret this context carefully and identify appropriate sound level limits that could guide design without relying on a regulation that might not directly apply to Calgary Airport Authority operations.

Reviewing Calgary Noise Bylaws and Alberta Regulatory Guidance

HGC reviewed the City of Calgary Community Standards Bylaw Number 32M2023, which is Calgary’s municipal bylaw addressing community noise, property standards and related nuisance matters. Part 8 of the bylaw regulates noise and includes provisions for continuous sound in residential and non-residential areas; however, the bylaw also identifies limitations related to aircraft-related activities and Calgary Airport Authority operations. For this project, HGC treated the bylaw as a useful benchmark for design target-setting rather than as a straightforward compliance trigger for the airport facility.

HGC also reviewed Alberta Utilities Commission Rule 012: Noise Control. Rule 012 sets out requirements for noise control for facilities under AUC jurisdiction, including how permissible sound levels are determined and when a noise impact assessment is required for certain regulated facilities. Although the proposed Engine Maintenance Facility was not understood to include components requiring AUC approval, Rule 012 provided a recognized Alberta framework for understanding how industrial sound limits are commonly considered.,

Establishing Practical Sound Level Targets for Nearby Airport Offices

Because the facility may operate at varying times, HGC considered the need for sound level targets that would be practical for both daytime and nighttime conditions. The key acoustical issue was to ensure that future engine test cell operation could be designed so that nearby airport offices and operational spaces would not experience unreasonable increases in environmental noise from the new facility.

HGC compared measured ambient conditions with municipal and industrial noise-control guidance, along with HGC’s experience from other jurisdictions where new industrial facility noise is often evaluated against existing ambient conditions or an established minimum target. This helped HGC recommend a conservative offsite design target for the nearest noise-sensitive receptors, focused on managing potential impacts from both engine test cells and their associated inlet and exhaust systems.

Environmental Noise Modelling and Design-Mitigation Considerations

To test whether the proposed sound level target could be achieved, HGC completed initial predictions using a computational acoustical model of the existing site and the proposed facility’s major noise sources. The modelling considered how sound would travel across the airport environment from the test cell infrastructure toward offsite receptors, accounting for distance, intervening buildings, ground conditions and other outdoor sound-propagation effects.

The modelling approach was based on ISO 9613-2, “Acoustics — Attenuation of sound during propagation outdoors — Part 2: Engineering method for the prediction of sound pressure levels outdoors.” This international standard provides an engineering method for predicting outdoor environmental noise from known sources, including effects such as geometrical spreading, atmospheric absorption, ground attenuation, reflections and screening by obstacles.

The assessment confirmed that with appropriate mitigation incorporated into the engine test cell design, the recommended sound level target could be met at the nearest offsite receptors. This type of early acoustical guidance is especially valuable for aviation infrastructure because it allows the project team to integrate noise-control performance into the design of major mechanical and test-cell systems before construction, rather than treating acoustics as a late-stage correction.

Acoustical Services Provided by HGC Noise Vibration Acoustics

• Reviewed existing ambient noise monitoring data for the proposed Engine Maintenance Facility area.

• Assessed applicable municipal noise bylaw language and relevant Alberta industrial noise-control guidance.

• Reviewed City of Calgary Community Standards Bylaw Number 32M2023 as a design benchmark.

• Considered AUC Rule 012: Noise Control as non-applicable regulatory guidance for industrial sound limit development.

• Reviewed acoustic design information prepared by others for the proposed facility.

• Developed recommended offsite ambient sound level limits for nearby airport offices and operational receptors.

• Completed initial environmental noise modelling using ISO 9613-2 outdoor sound propagation methods.

• Provided practical design guidance for managing potential engine test cell noise impacts.