Johnson Controls Inc. has won a contract for what it says is the biggest air-conditioning project in the world: cooling the Holy Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

Built in the seventh century, the Holy Mosque surrounds the sacred site toward which Muslims turn and pray each day, and it is a pilgrimage destination that can host more than a million worshippers during the holy month of Ramadan.

The mosque has been modified, rebuilt and expanded often throughout its history. The Johnson Controls contract is part of an ongoing major expansion that began in 1982.

"The signing of this contract . . . is the culmination of a long journey to win this unique and prestigious order - and also one of the largest single HVAC equipment orders in the history of Johnson Controls," said Stephen Roell, chairman and chief executive of Johnson Controls, who was in Saudi Arabia for the contract signing. "We are particularly pleased that these products, which are specifically tailored to meet the expansion requirements of the Holy Mosque, will contribute to a more efficient and sustainable environment that supports the comfort of the millions of people who visit this site annually."

The project was announced Monday, after a contract signing in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday.

It is a major contract for the Milwaukee-based building efficiency business of Johnson Controls, which bought heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment supplier York International several years ago. The project is being carried out by Al Salem Johnson Controls, a joint venture with a subsidiary of the Saudi Binladin Group. The companies have been working together since 1993, and have collaborated on other major projects at Saudi universities, airports and another mosque known as the Prophet's Mosque.

The Holy Mosque contract includes the purchase of 27 York "multistage centrifugal chillers," which have variable-speed drives to boost energy efficiency, as well as a building-management system, Johnson Controls said.

The mosque complex has nearly 1.2 million square feet.

Financial terms weren't disclosed, but a company executive said during a recent investor presentation it represents $35 million in revenues. During the presentation, Dave Myers, president of the building efficiency business, told Wall Street analysts the project is the payoff the company expects from growth in emerging markets, including the Middle East.

"Overall that business remains pretty healthy for us, and we see that as a key growth area," Myers said, highlighting infrastructure investments taking place in Turkey, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

The company aims for expansion in the Middle East through broadening its sales mix, from York equipment to a range of energy-efficiency and building-management systems, including security systems.

The project is an example of the strength of the "scale that we can deliver to customers in that region," Myers said. This project in particular will yield "around $35 million in total revenue associated with this, with an expectation that expands to double that size within the next three years," he said.

The building efficiency business had about $12.8 billion in global sales last year, of which $500 million came from the Middle East. In announcing a forecast of sales and profit growth during the fiscal year that just began last month, the company said its building efficiency growth would be powered by expansions in China and the Middle East.

The company's outlook for a record year has prompted Johnson Controls' stock price to hit 52-week highs in recent days. The shares closed Monday at $37.34, up 54 cents.David Leiker, an analyst with Robert W. Baird & Co. in Milwaukee, said the company's global focus on energy-efficient technologies will help its expansion in China, the Middle East and Latin America.

"Over the next six years, non-residential construction in these markets is expected to grow approximately 40-90 percent (relative to 2008 levels), with non-residential construction in Western Europe and North America expected to grow only approximately 10 percent over that same time period (also relative to 2008 levels)," he wrote in a recent research note.