Large shopping malls in Johannesburg handle thousands of visitors every day. For HVAC engineers, this creates a key challenge: how to maintain stable ventilation while keeping energy consumption under control.

A recent commercial complex project provides an interesting solution.

The building’s ventilation system uses 140 Air Handling Units (AHUs) equipped with RadiPac centrifugal fans with EC motors from ebm-papst.Each AHU integrates multiple 400 mm fans arranged in a FanGrid (fan wall) configuration, forming modular airflow units with three different output modes.

This fan array design offers several advantages:

• Compact system layout – Multiple smaller fans replace one large fan, reducing equipment space.

• Flexible airflow control – Using 0–10V signal group control, all EC fans can run in parallel while airflow is adjusted according to demand.

• Modular scalability – Fan numbers and parameters can be adapted for different areas such as retail zones, corridors, or food courts.

Another important factor is the local climate. Johannesburg’s relatively mild winters allow the ventilation system to reduce airflow during off-peak periods. By adjusting fan speed, the system maintains indoor comfort while lowering unnecessary energy consumption.

For rapidly expanding commercial buildings across Africa, this project highlights how FanGrid architecture combined with EC fan technology can deliver compact design, flexible control, and energy-efficient operation.

Discussion

At Beijing Hengrui, we're particularly proud to support growing markets like Africa, where smart, scalable FanGrid designs are making a real difference in large-scale HVAC applications.For engineers working on large commercial HVAC projects, what matters most in your experience?

•  FanGrid pressure stability