In the middle of one of the hottest deserts on earth lies an oasis of snow, ice, and penguins. The main attraction of this anomaly is the opportunity for those who have never seen snow to engage in one of the most popular winter sports, skiing.
Ski Dubai is part of the Mall of the Emirates and boasts the world’s first indoor ski resort and offers five runs, including a black diamond run, measuring 400 meters in length with a steep descent of over 60 meters. It maintains 6,000 tons of snow and produces 30-40 tons of fresh snow nightly using a chemical-free process similar to outdoor ski resorts. Water is cooled, sent through pipes to ceiling-mounted snow guns, and, when exposed to freezing temperatures of 19 to 18°F, crystallizes into snow.
You can imagine that maintaining a literal mountain of fresh snow in Dubai would require a massive amount of energy. However, thanks to careful planning and selecting the right HVAC company for the job, Ski Dubai is incredibly energy efficient.
The CEO, Phil Taylor remarked, “People would think that Ski Dubai requires huge amounts of energy, but our system is incredibly energy efficient. Actually, our energy costs are less than 10% of our operating costs. Right now, the wall-mounted chillers installed to maintain the temperature are not even running. The cooling effect of the glycol system and the snow layer as such is enough to maintain the desired temperatures day and night.”
The walls are heavily insulated at multiple levels and include 23 blast coolers to refrigerate the air and uphold a temperature of -1°C when needed. Additionally, an extensive network of glycol tubing runs beneath the floor to maintain the solidity of the snow base. The cooling of the glycol in the system is accomplished using two plate heat exchanger evaporators provided by Alfa Laval. The chilled glycol is circulated through concealed pipes located in the floor and ensures that the snow always has the desired consistency.
The genius design allows for the energy to be harnessed at three separate stages, making it superiorly energy efficient. The 30-40 tonnes of snow removed each night to accommodate fresh snow are melted and repurposed. It is then utilized in the chilled water supply for the mall’s air conditioning system. Afterward, the water derived from the melted snow serves to irrigate the gardens.
“Alfa Laval is one of the suppliers that have been carefully selected to enable the extremely high levels of energy efficiency that we have reached,” says Phil Taylor, CEO of Ski Dubai. “Service and back-up are absolutely essential and were important selection criteria for us.”
Just because you aren’t maintaining an indoor mountain of snow, what you have in your home and business is just as important. When you are selecting a company to work on your HVAC or to install a new system, choose one that has proven customer service and performance. Quigley Heating and Air Conditioning is a qualified Lennox®️ dealer and we treat every customer with the same level of care and service. Call today or schedule online to have one of our technicians help you finish out the last days of summer in cool, comfortable style. Check out our fall maintenance specials and the upcoming time Lennox®️ financing and rebates.
