The 3rd Middle East SME Forum

2012

Starting a Consultancy Business in

District Cooling
Karim Hajjar
DC PRO Engineering
 Agenda

 What is District Cooling?

 Why Choosing District Cooling as a Business in
the GCC?
 Business Growth Factors and Private and Public
Role
 Case Study: DC PRO Engineering
 What is District Cooling

 District cooling is an environmental friendly and energy efficient system used to

provide cooling for big loads or multiple buildings. A district cooling system (DCS)
distributes thermal energy in the form of chilled water from a central source to multiple
buildings (or other large developments such as airports, communities, metro…) through a
network of underground pipes to provide space and process cooling.
 The cooling and heat rejection systems are located in a central cooling plant, eliminating
the need for separate systems in individual buildings.
 A DCS consists of three primary components: the central plant, the distribution network
and the consumer system.
 The central plant includes the cooling equipment, standby power generation and thermal
storage to produce the chilled water medium.
 The distribution or piping network is used to transfer the cooling medium from the central
plant to buildings and should be designed with minimum heat losses.
 The consumer system would usually comprise of energy transfer stations, air handling
units and chilled water piping in the building.
 District Cooling System Components

District Cooling Plant ETS Room BTU Meter

Thermal Storage Tank Piping Network 4

The West Bay- Plant 1 & 2 (62,000 TR)

5
Al Sowwah Island DCP ( 80,000 TON )

6
 Why District Cooling in the GCC

 Air Conditioning was a vital element in the economic growth of the GCC associated with population
growth migration that increased the GCC population from just 2 Million People in1970 and more
than 35 Million people today.
 The GCC has the world highest penetration of District Cooling into the HVAC market where Dubai
has achieved 20% penetration (550,000 Ton) of actual peak DC capacity out of estimated
2,800,000 Ton of actual estimated capacity (2/3 of the 2011 peak of 6,200 MW is contributed to
HVAC) while Qatar has achieved 4.3% penetration (100,000 Ton out of the estimated 2,300 Ton
(2/3 of 2011 Peak as well).
 District Cooling can easily reach 50% penetration rate by 2030 in the GCC.
 Green Building Regulations are adopted by many GCC Cities.
 Why District Cooling in the GCC

 GCC countries have today one of the highest environmental foot print per capita in the world
in terms of peak electric load/Capita, carbon emissions/Capita and annual power
consumption/capita
 60% of the building energy in the GCC is consumed by air conditioning equipment.
 The GCC consumes more refrigerant gases than the entire continent of Africa.
 District Cooling due to its efficiency can lead:
o Increase the ability of GCC to export oil and Gas through reduction of power
consumption.
o Decrease CO2 emissions which is inline with the GCC general policy and international
pacts
o Ozone Friendly refrigerants with very low leakage probability
 District Cooling due to its economy of scale can incorporate renewable energy easier than
traditional air conditioning.
 What Are the benefits for Developers & End-Users from
Properly planned and implemented District Energy/Cooling?

 Reduction of development construction cost by 8 to 12 %.

 Reduction of project life cycle 10 to 20%
 Freeing building floor commercial areas
 Reduced cooling capacity requirements due to diversification of the load
 Reduced noise
 Increased reliability
 Higher comfort level cooling and humidity control
 Reduce maintenance nuisance
 Reduce End-user cooling fees due to improved efficiency
 Monitoring cooling consumption independently from other utilities: better energy conservation
 Better building aesthetic and utilization of outdoor spaces
 Valuable Spaces Saving and better aesthetics

Without District Cooling With District Cooling

 Business Growth Factors:
Company Strategy Success Factors

 Educating the Market about District Cooling and its benefits

 Engineering Know: reduced capital cost, and improved operational efficiency. Focus on
improving utilization of build up capacity and operating efficiency as key to improve returns and
reduced end-user charges.
 Knowledge sharing with the various stake holders
 Innovating new technologies and keeping up with current market trends
 Human Capital investment
 Engineers are like Doctors: Business ethics and good business reputation.
 Business Growth Factors:
Private and Public Sectors Role

 Revise power tariff structure to favor DC :

o Day and Night Rates ( TOU), TES
o Eliminate Unfair Slab rate imposed on DC
o Penalize inefficient plant rooms

 Supplying TSE water to DC : Reduces total utilities operating cost by 10 to 20%.

 Impose use of TES : Reduce energy consumption, capital cost and electrical connected load.

 Monitor DC efficacy: Operating efficiencies, Noise, refrigerant use and emission, water quality
( spread of Legionella) and effluent discharge to ensure public comfort and safety and conserve
the environment.

 Impose use of DC services in areas where the service is available.

 A free piece of Land for the DC Plant and the public chilled water distribution network
facilitate the distribution and ease the investment on the DC companies.
 Can the GCC Countries be Innovative?

 District Energy Rate based on average consumption per m2 of Space area:

o Inefficient structure charged higher rates and efficient structures benefit from lower Rate.
o The revenues generated from inefficiencies can fund energy efficient and renewable
energy investments and related research

 Non efficient building will be expensive to live in: Create interests to refurbish these
buildings and hence revitalize the real estate sector and create more construction jobs

 Innovation in incorporating renewable energy (Masdar), cogeneration using natural gas, supply of
alternative water sources with competitive rates, etc..

 Make use of the large unutilized capacity of district cooling ( 50 %) by expanding piping networks
and prioritizing new development where these spare capacities are available.

.
 Case Study: DC PRO Engineering
Key factors driving the establishment of DC PRO in 2006

 The growing market of District cooling

 Mature personnel capabilities who played a major role in transferring new District cooling
technologies to the Middle East and pioneered few technological applications on a world scale
 Developed one of the largest district cooling schemes and one of the most technologically
advanced in the world.
 DC PRO staff has played a major role in the advancement of the field of District Cooling:
 The first natural gas engine driven centrifugal chillers application outside the United States and
Australia.
 First Thermal Storage and TSE application in the UAE
 First Long Chilled Water Distribution network in the world in excess of 100 KM
 Electric Generation and synchronization for sole purpose of cooling
 The wide use of intelligent Electrical panels, LV & MV soft starters and LV variable speed
drives.
 Fresh air treatment and heat recovery .
 Industrial control full integration, proprietary controls software application and automated
reporting.
 Case Study: DC PRO Engineering
Success factors leading to establishment of DC PRO

 Quality And Efficiency

DC PRO team's extensive district cooling experience, continuous research and
development to design world class District Cooling schemes, with optimal capital and life
cycle operational costs.
 Employee long term retention and Motivation
District Cooling continuous success relies on highly specialized experienced personnel
that are passionate and devoted to the firm. DC PRO offers a solid ground through
partnership, incentive scheme, empowerment and continuous development to create a
motivated environment that will help in long term employees’ retention.
 Business Ethics & Integrity
 Case Study: DC PRO Engineering
DC PRO From 2006 to 2012

 Achieved Three ISOS: ISO 9001:2008, ISO 14001:2004, OHSAS 18001:2007

 Established the Green Building MEP division in 2008
 Established KSA office in 2011
 Grown from 4 in 2006 to 60 qualified professionals in 2012: LEED Accredited Professionals ,Certified
Energy Manager , Estidama Pearl Qualified Professional “PQP” ,Certified Project Management
Professionals (PMP) ,Certified ASHRAE CPMP (Commissioning Process Management
Professional)High-Performance Building Design Professional (HBDP) Building Energy Modeling
Professional (BEMP)
 Recognized leading world authority in the field of District Cooling with more than 1.72 Million Ton
designed so far more than anyone else in the world. More than 40 Chilled water plant room designs
using electricity, natural gas or diesel Fuel, and 5,000 Km of external chilled water piping, Lowest
Capital Cost and Highest Operational Efficiency
 In 2012 DC PRO has designed 0.05 % of CCHP Market in the World
 Recognized authority in the field of Green Buildings MEP Design with more than 3.8 million m2 of BUA
designed so far.
 Case Study: DC PRO Engineering
DC PRO From 2006 to 2012

 Leadership in sustainability: Best design approach achieved for Masdar City, greenest and most
advanced District Energy system in the world
 Involved in writing or contributing to several regulations in the UAE
 DEWA regulations for implementations of thermal storage and non desalinated water use in district
cooling ( Executive order number 27)
 Green Buildings & District Cooling regulations for RAK Emirates.
 Contributed to ESTIDAMA, Green buildings regulation.
 Reviewed Dubai Green Buildings Regulations.
 Dubai Land District Cooling Regulations.
 Various publications, chairing tens of conferences and giving tens of public presentation to enhance
the industry knowledge which improved DC PRO reputation and market presence.
 Winner of SME 100 in 2012 with 67th overall ranking and 10th in Human Capital Development
 Case Study: DC PRO Engineering
Challenges & Solutions

 2009 Crisis where we lost 95 % of our backlog

 Good professional reputation which brought business in difficult time where clients will engage the best
for less
 Sought business worldwide and reached to Africa, Egypt, Jordan and the Far East
 Investment in business development to increase market share throughout the difficult period and
shrinking market and opportunities.
 Keeping up with market trends and advancement with the minimum available resources:
 Investment in Building Information Modeling (BIM) to develop unprecedented details and 3 D modeling
mimicking photograph reality.
 In lieu of laying off employees in 2009, DC PRO strategy was to engage the entire team with research
and development that eventually led the company to win Sowwah Island ( Largest DCS in the capital
with highest measured plot efficiency) and kept us busy during 2010
 Case Study: DC PRO Engineering
Future Plans: Expansion and Diversification

 Leading world Authority in Cogeneration and Tri-generation, expanding into the Far
East particularly Malaysia, Singapore, Philippine, Korea & China
 Diversify into Power plant designs, sewage treatment and water treatment by alliance
to experienced and reputable consultants
 Establishment of an Office in Malaysia, Australia & Philippines
Thank you for you Attention

Karim Hajjar
Khajjar@dcproeng.com