Summary

Tera Mall shopping center, in Saudi Arabia, required an innovative power-saving solution to provide shoppers with a comfortable yet sustainable indoor climate. Convinced by Oxycom’s IntrCooll’s performance, its partner Dosan suggested this two-stage evaporative cooling technique (IDEC) as an ideal solution. Ultimately, 49 Oxycom IntrCoolls now provide the Tera Mall with a cool, comfortable and healthy climate with high energy savings.

About Tera Mall and Dosan

Adorned with Paris-styled arches and domes, Tera Mall is a beautiful mega shopping center situated in Taif, Saudi Arabia. Tera Mall was designed in the French architectural interface. Aiming for a greener future, Tera Mall looks for sustainable ways to provide customers with the best shopping experience in a cool, comfortable and healthy environment.

Dosan, Oxycom’s partner in Saudi Arabia, is a trading and construction company. With almost 20 years in the field, the company specialises in building retail showrooms, shopping malls, hotels, restaurants and residential buildings. Recently, Dosan has set up a sister division dealing exclusively with Oxycom’s sustainable air conditioning solutions for Saudi Arabia. Mohammed Mansour is the managing partner for this division.

The challenge: Finding the right energy-saving comfort cooling solution for an iconic and innovative building Tera Mall’s owner, Dr Abdulkhader Al Obaikan, sees it as his mission to contribute to Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030: A vision for the future of Saudi Arabia with sustainability, energy-saving and CO2 reduction at the heart of everything the Kingdom does – from policy development and investment to planning and infrastructure.

Along the same lines, Dr Al Obaikan has been trying energy-efficient and environment-friendly solutions for 20 years. With this in mind, he builds his shopping centres, hotels and offices, investing in innovative ways to save energy and reduce CO2 emissions. He had utilised solar panels as a power-saving measurement in the past. However, given the size of the new shopping mall – 60,000 m2 – and the amount of comfort cooling required to provide its shoppers with a comfortable environment, it became clear that using only solar panels would not be a sufficient power-saving move. In order to align Tera Mall with Vision 2030, an alternative power-saving solution needed to be employed.

The Solution: Sustainable comfort cooling with innovative two-stage evaporative cooling (IDEC)
In 2018, Dosan learnt of Oxycom’s sustainable cooling technology while attending The Big 5 Show, in Dubai. The patented two-stage evaporative system, IntrCooll provides cold, fresh and healthy air with up to 90% less energy consumption than conventional AC solutions. Noticing its potential, Dosan understood that the patented two-stage evaporative technology (IDEC) could be a power-saving solution for companies in the Middle East looking to employ energy-efficient climate control.

As Dosan was involved in the construction of the Tera Mall, Dosan suggested installing Oxycom’s two-stage evaporative cooling technology. An elaborate introduction and a clear demonstration of the IntrCooll in another project in the Middle East convinced Tera Mall’s owner about the technology’s power-saving abilities, and an agreement was signed. Nevertheless, the project did come with some challenges.

Tera Mall’s management decided to build the total number of IntrCooll units in a phased manner till the desired indoor temperature is achieved. Initially, 20 IntrCooll units were installed along with other passive but expensive cooling solutions. To beat the heat and achieve the desired indoor temperature, the doors were narrowed to keep out the warmth, and the beautiful large glass dome was isolated against the sun’s rays. These measurements worked partially but were not nearly enough.

After some negative feedback from the mall’s customers about the indoor temperature, it was decided to install additional IntrCooll units to attain the desired indoor temperature. In conclusion, the flexibility of IntrCoolls to be easily installed to the structure of Tera Mall and IntrCooll’s ability to adjust with the growing demand and changing conditions of the building, along with higher energy savings, was a notable feature.

The results: Comfortable shopping experience with massive energy savings

Over the course of more than two years, a total of 49 IntrCoolls have been installed in Tera Mall. The two-stage evaporative cooling technology enables Tera Mall to cool the shopping centre down to a comfortable temperature, with abundant fresh and healthy air combined with substantial energy savings compared to conventional air conditioning.

A look at the future
Since the mini overhaul in the second half of the project, Dr Al Obaikan is satisfied with the IntrCoolls technology and the collaboration with Oxycom and Dosan. Now having a turnkey contract with Tera Mall, Dosan manages, operates and maintains the IntrCooll units 24/7 with a dedicated team.

This project has ushered great future cooperation amongst all parties involved.