Zamil Air Conditioners (ZAC) has been awarded multiple contracts to provide custom climate control systems for King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), located on the eastern shore of the Red Sea at Thuwal, Saudi Arabia.
The scope of the SR80 million ($21.4 million) agreements calls for ZAC to supply a large number of concealed fan coil units, air-cooled condensing units, single-skin air handling units, ducted split systems, approximately 3,000 sets of water chilled fan coil units, and 21 sets of custom built TW Series double-skin air-handling systems.
Units of the TW Series are 17.6 m long and 5.6 m high and feature top-quality galvanised steel GI outer skins and specially designed aluminum inner skins with a thick bottom panel. The units also feature special dampers, coils, fans, energy wheels, sound attenuators and filters, and a control system capable of monitoring and controlling temperature, enthalpy, airflow, humidity, pressure and CO2 levels. The total cooling capacity for the project is more than 16,500 tonnes.
“KAUST is truly a landmark undertaking for Zamil Air Conditioners. Competition for the contracts included the world’s best providers of air conditioning systems. Zamil Air Conditioners emerged as the winner due to its unique ability to satisfy the most stringent climate control specifications and timeline requirements,” said Ahmed Zaatari, general manager of ZAC.
The KAUST campus is located 80 km north of Jeddah. Due to be completed in September 2009, the complete academic and residential compound will feature regional architectural design blended with modern amenities and style, linking historical educational tradition to today’s vital disciplines of high-tech science and engineering. The university will offer world-class interdisciplinary graduate research programmes in resources, energy and environment, biosciences and bioengineering, material science and engineering and applied mathematics and computational science.
Osama Bunyan, executive vice president of ZAC, commented: “We are pleased to become an integral partner in the mission to establish KAUST as a world-class educational research institution. We will bring all of our corporate resources to bear as we participate in the realisation of the vision of King Abdullah to provide an environment that will facilitate the work of researchers and scientists from around the globe using advanced scientific and technological capabilities to the benefit of all mankind.”
ZAC was founded in 1974 as one of the first air conditioning businesses to be established in Saudi Arabia and today is a leading international manufacturer of air conditioning systems and Number 1 in the Middle East. It designs, manufactures, tests, markets and services a comprehensive range of air conditioning products from compact room air conditioners and mini splits to large-scale central air conditioners, chillers and air handling units for highly specialised commercial and industrial applications.  These products and services are marketed under various brand names – Classic, Cooline, Cool Care, Clima Tech and Geoclima – depending on specific markets. ZAC’s factories are located in Dammam, Saudi Arabia and Italy.
Zamil Air Conditioners is also involved in the production of branded air conditioners for several leading international manufacturers under original equipment manufacturer (OEM) agreements. It operates a joint venture between Zamil Industrial and General Electric, called Middle East Air Conditioners Ltd (MEAC).
Zamil Air Conditioners has been vigorously moving into newer markets, seeking strategic alliances and investing heavily in R&D.
Zamil Air Conditioners is one of four sector businesses of Zamil Industrial, the others being Zamil Steel Industries, Zamil Glass Industries and Arabian Fiberglass Insulation Co Ltd.
Earlier this year, Zamil Industrial announced the launch of a new 50:50 joint venture with Hudson Products Corporation - through its affiliate Hudson Products Middle East LLC, a manufacturer of air cooled heat exchangers.
The partnership, which will operate from Dammam, Saudi Arabia, will focus on the manufacture, assembly and maintenance of air cooled heat exchangers serving utility, petroleum, chemical, oil and gas processing and industrial customers in the Middle East, Africa and central Asia.
Manufacturing and service operations for the joint venture will be undertaken by ZAC and Zamil CoolCare.