Chiller installation in Aljada 

Chiller installation in Aljada: local context

Aljada is a large master-planned community being built near University City and the Emirates Road, with mid-rise apartments, townhouses, retail and leisure in phases since the late 2010s. It is one of Sharjah's biggest new developments and remains under active construction. The development combines residential neighbourhoods with retail, leisure and community buildings, delivered in phases by a single master developer, so infrastructure, utilities and access routes evolve as each phase is completed and handed over.

• Approvals typically start with a master developer NOC before Sharjah Municipality, Civil Defence and SEWA submissions.
• Inland heat and dust demand derated air-cooled plant and protected intakes.
• Mid-rise buildings and townhouses typically use VRF or air-cooled chillers, with plant locations fixed by master plan guidelines on screening and noise.

Building types we serve in Aljada

For malls and retail centres, the work concentrates on large-volume air handling, tenant-ready chilled water or refrigerant capacity, smoke extraction for atriums and car parks and food-court exhaust.

Scope of work

• Review of plant capacity, redundancy and part-load profile so the number and size of chillers matches how the building actually operates through the year.
• Structural and acoustic coordination for roof or plant-room locations, including spring isolators, inertia bases and maintenance clearances around each machine.
• Rigging and lifting plans for heavy chillers onto roofs or into basements, coordinated with crane availability and site logistics.
• Refrigerant leak detection and plant-room ventilation where water-cooled machines sit indoors, wired to alarm and to start the emergency extract fans.

Systems we install

• Primary-secondary or variable primary pumping arrangements
• Refrigerant leak detectors and plant-room emergency ventilation fans

UAE site and climate challenges

• Air-cooled chillers lose capacity as condenser inlet air rises, and UAE design conditions around 46 to 50°C mean machines must be selected for that ambient, not catalogue ratings at 35°C, or the plant will fall short on peak days.
• Water-cooled plants with cooling towers face high water consumption and Legionella risk in warm basins, so dosing, drift eliminators and treated or TSE make-up water are considered at design stage.
• Refrigerant choice, where lower global-warming refrigerants may be preferred by green building assessors but can affect chiller availability, efficiency at high ambient and service technician familiarity.

Relevant Manolia projects

AUS Bowling City, Sharjah

University City (Sharjah) · MEP · Completed

MEP design & build plus decoration for a G+4 leisure building.

Al Salam Tower, Sharjah

Sharjah · HVAC · Completed

Chiller plant and roof chilled-water network for a 52-typical-floor tower.

Frequently asked questions