In the Swedish city of Västerås, you can sweat, sing, dance or enjoy elegant dining on 3,000 square meters of floor space, depending on the event you happen to be visiting in the Bombardier Arena there. The arena is nearly 30 years old, and its three halls are used for sports events, concerts, dinners and exhibitions. The requirements for appropriate air conditioning in the arena are just as great as the events there are diverse. Two large AC fans were previously used in the arena, but they could not be controlled efficiently. For example, they had to run from Friday to Monday for weekend events. This waste of resources came to an end in November 2018.
FanGrid for the arena

Old and inefficient: the old ventilation with two AC fans. (Photo: ebm-papst)
An energy appraisal by Mälarenergi Energy Services made it clear that there was plenty of potential for savings at the arena. The company’s findings had to be taken seriously; it regularly finds ways for its customers to achieve significant savings. So a new system was needed. Kadesjös Ingenjörsbyrå was brought on board to plan the modernization activities; the company advises customers in construction and plumbing design, from private homes and offices to complex processing facilities. In the case of the Bombardier Arena, Jonas Pettersson and his associates had a special trump card: They had designed the arena themselves almost 30 years ago.
A brand Swedes trust
It was not long before the name of ebm-papst came up during selection of the fans. ebm-papst had taken a pioneering role on the Swedish market in 2016 by introducing a redundant and highly flexible fan solution – the FanGrid. Today there are FanGrids installed in facilities such as a large office complex in Solna, the hospital in Skaraborg, and the Kemicentrum in Lund. For the Bombardier Arena, such a solution also offered the flexibility required for meeting event-based air conditioning needs. “ebm-papst has invested a lot in flexible FanGrids with integrated control electronics, and we’ve had good experience with the company’s products,” says Pettersson from Kadesjös. “Since we also needed to move a lot of air, choosing a FanGrid was exactly the right decision,” added Göran Andersson, Sales Manager for fans at ebm-papst in Stockholm.
The FanGrid in the Bombardier Arena went to work in November 2018. It includes 32 RadiPac fans – 16 for intake air and 16 for exhaust air, each with 5.7 kW, that can be controlled via MODBUS or analog signals and are highly efficient thanks to their EC direct drives. They are equipped with FlowGrid air inlet grills to ensure a low noise level, so the only sound in the arena comes from enthusiastic fans or good live music.
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