Chiller Plant Room Installation — International Life House
Three water-cooled centrifugal chillers installed with full pipework and insulation in the basement plant room at International Life House, Nairobi, forming the core cooling capacity for the building's HVAC system.
EMOST Techniques Ltd installed the basement chiller plant room at International Life House in Nairobi: three water-cooled centrifugal chillers, complete chilled water pipework with per-unit isolation, and full insulation, forming the core cooling capacity for the building's HVAC system.
Project overview
- ClientInternational Life House
- Client industryCommercial Real Estate / Office
- LocationNairobi, Kenya
- Service categoryHVAC Systems
- ScopeThree water-cooled centrifugal chillers, chilled water pipework, pipe insulation, plant room fit-out
The challenge
A commercial office building the size of International Life House needs cooling capacity that can run continuously across many floors without a single point of failure taking the whole system down. The building's basement plant room had to house multiple chiller units, chilled water pipework connecting them to the building's distribution system, and full insulation to prevent condensation and heat loss, all within a fixed basement footprint with limited access for moving heavy plant equipment into place.
How the plant room was installed
Surveyed the basement plant room, including access routes for moving chiller units into place and available floor space for the final pipework layout.
Chiller placement, pipework routing, and insulation specification were planned to fit three units and their connecting pipework within the plant room footprint while keeping clear access for maintenance.
Three water-cooled centrifugal chillers were moved into the basement plant room and set in their final positions.
Chilled water pipework was fabricated and installed to connect all three chillers to the building's distribution system, including valves and isolation points for individual chiller servicing.
All chilled water pipework was insulated to prevent condensation buildup and heat gain within the plant room.
Each chiller was tested individually and as part of the combined system before handover, confirming chilled water flow and temperature performance across the building's HVAC system.
Unit specification
| Chiller type | Water-cooled centrifugal |
|---|---|
| Number of units | Three |
| Pipework | Full chilled water pipework with isolation valves per unit |
| Insulation | Full insulation on all chilled water pipework |
| Installation location | Basement plant room |
| Client | International Life House, Nairobi |
What was delivered
EMOST Techniques Ltd installed three water-cooled centrifugal chillers in the basement plant room at International Life House, complete with chilled water pipework and full insulation. The system was designed with individual isolation valves per chiller, allowing any one unit to be serviced without shutting down the building's entire cooling capacity.
Before hiring an HVAC contractor in Kenya
- Redundancy. Ask whether the plant room design allows individual chillers to be isolated and serviced without shutting down the whole system.
- Site access. Confirm the contractor has surveyed how heavy chiller units will actually be moved into a basement or confined plant room before installation begins.
- Insulation standard. Ask what insulation is used on chilled water pipework and how it's rated to prevent condensation in a Kenyan climate.
- Commissioning. Confirm each chiller is tested individually and as part of the combined system before handover, not just switched on.
- Registration. Confirm the contractor is registered and experienced with commercial-scale, multi-chiller plant room installations, not just single-unit residential HVAC.
Frequently asked questions
This project shows how EMOST Techniques Ltd approaches commercial HVAC plant room installations in Kenya: multiple chillers installed with individual isolation and full pipework insulation, as delivered for International Life House in Nairobi.
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