Maracana Stadium

Brazil’s infamous Maracanã stadium in Rio de Janeiro has undergone a complete renovation in preparation for the hosting of next summer’s 2014 World Cup finals.

The near three-year refurbishment of Brazil’s largest stadium comprised an expansion from 189,000 m² to 240,000 m², and now also boasts 328 parking spaces, 292 restrooms, 60 bar areas across five floors, is lit by 23,500 low-maintenance LED lighting fixtures and contains rain water collection and clean energy solutions.​

Project leaders Consórcio Maracanã envisioned transforming the stadium into an environmental heritage for Brazil through saving natural resources such as water and electricity and thereby receiving Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) environmental accreditation, from the Brazilian Green Building Council.

In line with the stadium’s sustainable vision, a cooling system with a capacity of 10,620 kW was required to deliver the stadium’s indoor climate and temperature requirements.

​Following previous project success, consultant, Danilo Werneck, approached IMI Hydronic Engineering to provide its expertise in hydronic balancing during the project design stage, through to completion.

IMI Hydronic Engineering used TA Select, to help determine the optimum component selection, and discuss with the client at a strategic-level, how the system would respond. The close co-operation enabled both parties to agree on solutions that would guarantee the best hydronic design possible.

IMI Hydronic Engineering provided a range of high performance valves, differential pressure controllers, terminal valves, pressure-independent temperature control valves, pressure-maintenance devices and the TA-SCOPE flow and pressure measurement and diagnostics instrument, as well as further support during commissioning of the project.

During the stadium’s official reopening in June, a comfortable indoor climate was successfully delivered, with energy savings of 4% achieved through the cooling system optimisation. The state-of-the-art stadium has since successfully received LEED environmental accreditation, meeting three American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) standards – the most common LEED standard – for efficiency, HVAC system quality and user comfort.