Contract includes the purchase of 27 York multistage centrifugal chillers

JEDDAH, KSA – Johnson Controls announced the signing of a contract for the expansion of the Makkah’s Holy Mosque in Saudi Arabia. The contract will provide an integrated building-management system, including state-of-the-art heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) for the largest-ever expansion of the Holy Mosque. The contract includes the purchase of 27 York multistage centrifugal chillers to produce one of the most efficient and sustainable facilities of its kind in the world.

Built in the seventh century, the mosque has been modified, rebuilt and expanded on a regular basis ever since. As a result of this most recent expansion, which began in 1982, the Holy Mosque can accommodate more than one million worshippers during the holy month of Ramadan and during the annual Hajj pilgrimage.

“The signing of this contract is the culmination of a long journey to win this unique and prestigious order – and also one of the largest single HVAC equipment orders in the history of Johnson Controls,” said Stephen Roell, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Johnson Controls. “We are particularly pleased that these products, which are specifically tailored to meet the expansion requirements of the Holy Mosque, will contribute to a more efficient and sustainable environment that supports the comfort of the millions of people who visit this site annually.”

The York chillers will be installed at the Shamiyah central utility complex and Ajyad chiller plant, and provide 135,000 tonnes of refrigeration capacity. Using R134A refrigerant, the chillers are equipped with solid-state starters and variable-speed drives (VSDs) that are seamlessly integrated with a Johnson Controls’ Metasys building-management system for a unique, energy-efficient solution to the cooling challenges of such a large and unique facility. The Johnson Controls solution also will support the facility’s sustainability goals through various water- and energy-conservation solutions.

“We are proud of our relationship with Johnson Controls, which dates back to 1993,” said Saleh Binladin, Executive Board Member of Al Salem Johnson Controls’ joint venture. “We regularly strive to provide efficient, sustainable solutions, relying on the quality of Johnson Controls products to meet the individual requirements of each of our customers. This particular project at the Holy Mosque is one we can all be proud of, not only because of the facility’s significance, but also because of the unique challenges it presents in terms of its size and the numbers of people it attracts.”

The signing ceremony took place at Saudi Binladin Group headquarters in Jeddah, between Eng. Yahia Binladin, deputy chairman of Saudi Binladin Group and Stephen Roell, chairman and chief executive officer of Johnson Controls.

Eng. Basil Abdulaziz, Managing Director for Al Salem Johnson Controls, said: “We have supplied six York Chillers for the Prophet’s Mosque in 1990s which are still operating effectively today. In addition to the Two Holy Mosques, Johnson Controls also secured numerous mega projects in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, including King Abdullah of Science and Technology University, King Faisal University, King Abdulaziz International Airport, Hajj Terminal, King Saud University, King Khaled University, Hadeed-Sabic and Princess Noura University for Women.”

Added Eng. Bakr M Binladin, Chairman and Managing Director of Saudi Binladin Group: “It is a great honour for Al Salem Johnson Controls to be associated with cooling the most sacred places of worship. These deals demonstrate the robustness and security of our nation’s economy under the leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud.”