Case Studies

Sunderland University

Sunderland University gave us a tough objective; to build a brand-new state of the art data centre with high reliability and maximum energy efficiency that would deliver a power usage efficiency (PUE) of 1.2 or less. We were selected from 21 companies that tendered for the work. Sunderland University based their decision on high-level technical skills, experience and proven ability to deliver within budget and to agreed timescales.

The project included building a data centre with 12 racks, an N+1 Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS) and battery, a generator, a high-efficiency data centre cooling system in N+1 configuration, plus all the required electrical and mechanical installation work.

To give an idea of what the project entailed; first stage development included ductwork installation for the cooling, installing a plinth to support the UPS and battery and fitting an electrical distribution board and UPS by-pass, all within a DC environment. Then followed the installation of racking, adding the roof and doors to contain the cold air; the concept being that air from outside is pulled through the eco-cooling equipment, cooled and then forced into the cold aisle. The servers subsequently pull the cold air through to the front of the racks. The warm air is then partially expelled to the outside and partially fed back into the cooling units to maintain the required temperature through to the cooling unit.

The total project was delivered in 8 weeks and surpassed Sunderland University’s expectations, returning a PUE of less than 1.2. The cooling system now provides 105kW of cooling for 15-amp single-phase power, reflecting a 90% efficiency boost over traditional data centre cooling.

Sunderland University gave us a tough objective; to build a brand-new state of the art data centre with high reliability and maximum energy efficiency that would deliver a power usage efficiency (PUE) of 1.2 or less. We were selected from 21 companies that tendered for the work. Sunderland University based their decision on high-level technical skills, experience and proven ability to deliver within budget and to agreed timescales.

The project included building a data centre with 12 racks, an N+1 Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS) and battery, a generator, a high-efficiency data centre cooling system in N+1 configuration, plus all the required electrical and mechanical installation work.

To give an idea of what the project entailed; first stage development included ductwork installation for the cooling, installing a plinth to support the UPS and battery and fitting an electrical distribution board and UPS by-pass, all within a DC environment. Then followed the installation of racking, adding the roof and doors to contain the cold air; the concept being that air from outside is pulled through the eco-cooling equipment, cooled and then forced into the cold aisle. The servers subsequently pull the cold air through to the front of the racks. The warm air is then partially expelled to the outside and partially fed back into the cooling units to maintain the required temperature through to the cooling unit.

The total project was delivered in 8 weeks and surpassed Sunderland University’s expectations, returning a PUE of less than 1.2. The cooling system now provides 105kW of cooling for 15-amp single-phase power, reflecting a 90% efficiency boost over traditional data centre cooling.

“Electrical Mechanical & Cooling designed, delivered and built a world-class energy-efficient data centre far beyond our expectations.” – David Conway, Sunderland University.

“Electrical Mechanical & Cooling designed, delivered and built a world-class energy-efficient data centre far beyond our expectations.” – David Conway, Sunderland University.