Keflavik Airport Case Study

CUSTOMER

Istak

PROJECT

Keflavik Airport Expansion

Monitor the Impact. Protect the Community.

01

The Project

Keflavik Airport — Iceland’s largest airport and the main hub for international transportation — is undergoing sustained expansion. Located around 50 km southwest of Reykjavik, it handles the majority of journeys to and from Iceland and operates three runways, two currently in use.

The terminal, Leifur Erikson Air Terminal, opened in April 1987 and has been progressively extended: the South Building in 2001 to meet Schengen Agreement requirements, the North Building enlarged and completed in 2007, with further expansion continuing from 2016 onward.

Each phase of construction takes place within the range of residential, commercial, and public buildings — making continuous, defensible noise data a planning condition, not a courtesy.

Our Partner

Istak is one of Iceland’s longest-established contractors, with more than half a century delivering construction across buildings, power plants, heavy industry, earthworks, harbour works, roads, and bridges — both in Iceland and abroad.

For environmental compliance on the Keflavik expansion, Istak partnered with Sonitus Systems — a Cognesense brand — the trusted name in environmental noise monitoring for regulated construction environments.

One partner. Every obligation. Legacy meets future.

Environmental Monitoring

Large urban construction projects place real environmental pressure on the communities around them. Keeping noise emissions within planning limits requires continuous monitoring that can identify exceedances as they happen — not after a complaint is filed.

In 2021, four EM2030 environmental noise monitors were installed around the site perimeter to monitor, control, and reduce noise emissions across the construction programme.

The four units deliver continuous, reliable data to the Sonitus Cloud platform, where project managers receive automated email and SMS alerts the moment noise levels approach the agreed limits — or when working-hour and quiet-time conditions are at risk of being breached.

EM2030 Sound Level Monitor

The EM2030 is built for situations where users need reliable measurements with minimum operational effort. Each kit comprises a rugged measurement unit, a weatherproof outdoor microphone, a mounting stand with cable, and a mains power supply. For colder environments such as Iceland, an optional microphone heater maintains consistent performance through the seasons.

Project Outcome

The combination of a responsible contractor and reliable, certified equipment allowed the Keflavik expansion to progress without disruption from noise complaints or out-of-hours work. Automated reporting from Sonitus Systems gave the Istak team a continuous compliance trail — leaving them free to focus on delivery while environmental monitoring ran in the background, every hour, every day.

This is what one trusted partner looks like at the perimeter: measure the impact, monitor it continuously, protect the community around the site.

Measure. Monitor. Protect.