HVAC installation in Abu Dhabi City 

HVAC installation in Abu Dhabi City: local context

Abu Dhabi City covers the main island's grid of streets, from the Corniche towers and government buildings to dense mid-rise blocks built from the 1980s onward, along with hotels, hospitals and private palaces. Many buildings are now 20–40 years old, so replacement and upgrade work runs alongside new towers. Manolia's work in the capital includes building works for a G+3P+24 office tower, MEP works for a 28-storey tower and HVAC works for Al Bahar Palace.

• Older towers on the island often need chiller and cooling tower replacements, re-piping of corroded risers and new BMS controls, delivered while tenants stay in place.
• Palaces demand concealed, quiet HVAC with precise zoning, robust standby capacity and finishes that tolerate no visible ductwork or grilles out of place.
• ADDC load approvals and substation arrangements need to be confirmed before final electrical design, especially when existing buildings add significant cooling load.

Building types we serve in Abu Dhabi City

For high-rise towers, the work concentrates on pressure-zoned water and drainage stacks, riser and plant-room coordination, stair pressurisation and a cooling source sized for diversity across dozens of typical floors.

Scope of work

• Installation of AHUs, fan coil units, VAV boxes and fresh air handling units with vibration isolation, condensate drainage and service access.
• Chilled-water or refrigerant pipework installation with pressure testing, flushing and insulation sealed against condensation in humid ceiling voids.
• Toilet extract, car park ventilation and general exhaust systems sized to keep negative pressure where odours and fumes are generated.
• Air and water balancing to design flow rates, with measured readings recorded for every terminal and coil.

Systems we install

• Ceiling-concealed and floor-standing fan coil units
• Variable air volume boxes for open-plan offices

UAE site and climate challenges

• Outdoor air in summer is both very hot and very humid, so fresh air must be pre-treated by dedicated units or heat recovery before it reaches occupied spaces, otherwise rooms feel clammy even when the thermostat reads 23°C.
• Large glazed facades facing west take a heavy late-afternoon solar load, so perimeter zones are separated from interior zones and given their own coils and controls instead of sharing a thermostat with rooms that never see the sun.
• Whether to invest in EC fans and variable speed drives on AHUs and exhaust fans, which lower running costs and noise in exchange for higher equipment prices and slightly more complex controls.

Relevant Manolia projects

Frequently asked questions