DC Retrofitting
As the data centre construction sector overheats, the demand for Hyperscale and Colocation space can no longer be satisfied through “New Build” construction. And with the steady increase in Green Field construction costs, the business case for refitting existing facilities has never made more sense. Additionally, the data centre industry is waking up to the reality that Embodied Carbon will play an important part in any future development strategy and how retrofitting can reduce that carbon footprint. Airflow Engineering specialises in data centre retrofitting for the data centre industry and has established a reputation as a reliable delivery partner by utilising our extensive “Live Site” management techniques and expert design capability.
MEP Design
Airflow Engineering provides Mechanical, Electrical, and Project Management services to the data centre Industry. Our engineering service includes developing and producing 2D and 3D CAD drawings, BIM modes, material specifications, and documents for all types of contracts and tendering procedures. These include Traditional Tendered, Design and Build, and Management Contracting procurement techniques. We adopt an informed and innovative approach to all aspects of design and cost control and seamlessly collaborate with other disciplines within the design team. In addition, we track the economic, environmental, and social sustainability of our designs, as well as energy and resource consumption throughout the design process.
Live Site Upgrade
Airflow Engineering specialises in “Live Site” upgrade works established through 21 years of project experience and a deep understanding of worker safety and downtime avoidance. Our projects follow a multi-stage process of risk Assessment, Identification, and Mitigation (AIM). We rely on a robust structure of RAMS, site planning, lockout/tag-out, and Hot Works permitting procedures to ensure all projects are delivered with worker safety and business continuity at its core.
Reliability Analysis
Airflow Engineering offers a wide range of services which help clients understand the reliability of existing designs and to choose the most suitable topology to achieve their performance and SLA goals. We consider the current and future capacities of the data centre and how the energy centre that powers this capacity interacts with the grid. Over time the function of the grid connection has changed and now plays a more sustainable and responsive role. We provide full design services which support sustainable initiatives such as Fast Frequency Response, Energy Trading, and Energy Response.
SPOF, GAP & Condition Analysis
To assist data centre operators in understanding the condition of a facility better, Airflow Engineering has developed a range of assessment services that focus on the reliability of an existing facility and include SPOF, GAP, and Condition Analysis. A single point of failure within a data centre may manifest within the MEP, Fibre, or Architecture of the facilities design. A SPOF analysis is a rigid assessment aimed at identifying any weak point in the building design. A GAP analysis identifies any shortfall between the existing design and the requirements of Uptime, TIA 942, or EN50600. A condition analysis details the condition of all assets within the facility and includes asset valuations and time to
replace them.
Site Acquisition & Asset Valuation (SAAV)
As the demand for data centre capacity in hyper-scale, enterprise, and edge data centres continues to grow and the construction process remains slow, the option to acquire existing data centre assets is growing in popularity. The analysis required to make an informed decision on an acquisition prospect requires a deep understanding of a wide range of factors about that prospect. These will include geographic and security aspects of the site, the reliability and suitability of the mechanical and electrical design topology, the condition and age of the plant, and the time and cost of replacement. Airflow Engineering has utilized its years of data centre design experience to develop a Site Acquisition and Asset Valuation (SAAS) service, which focuses on assisting acquisition teams understand the inherent value and risk of candidate sites.
Auditing Services
Airflow Engineering provides a full range of auditing services to assist our clients to better understand the current condition and future upgrade options of their data centre facilities. The following is a list of our standard audits which can be customised to the clients needs.
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Concurrent Maintainability audit.
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Pier Review of New Design
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Cost analysis of new or existing upgrade
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Site Selection
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Operations policies & procedures audit
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Site Reliability Audit
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UPTIME, TIA 942, EN5600 compliance
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Data centre Energy Efficiency
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Capacity Planning and expansion analysis
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Single Point Of Failure (SPOF)
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Temperature controls and settings audit
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Security and safety audit
Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is a software solution used to simulate and analyse air movement and cooling performance within a data hall. It is used to build a virtual model of an existing or proposed data hall space which can then be analysed to reveal attributes such as the path of the airflow, its velocity, temperature, and pressure. The CFD model of a data centre represents the full 3-dimensional characteristics of the physical data centre. This includes the cooling design, power distribution, room layout, aisle containment, and equipment layout. The analysis of the results helps identify how to create an efficient environment for the reliable operation of the data centre, reducing its carbon footprint
and its operational costs.
CFD Analysis
Heat Load Analysis (HLA)
Heat Load Analysis (HLA) is a comparison of the heat and cooling loads within a data hall. The output of the analysis details the relationship between space, power, and cooling capacity and identifies any shortfall in the cooling provision. Additionally, the condition and effect of cable management raised floor panelling, diffusers, cable cut-outs, and perimeter wall penetrations are considered. The final report will reflect the current operating status, as well as the options and restrictions to future expansion. Addition analysis will be provided regarding the utilization of the cooling resource and its ability to accommodate High Density or expanded power loads. Finally, the options for expansion within the current building footprint can be considered on request.
A Capacity Planning report provides quantitative capacity and availability information that can be used to help prioritize how resources may be allocated and what future expansion is required. The Capacity Planning process identifies the current capacity of the facility and identifies how the current and future needs may be accommodated. The process involves the collection of live data, the completion of a usage and pattern analysis, and comparison against the current capacity of the facility infrastructure. Throughout the process, we carry out workshops with the management and IT operations staff which helps us clearly interpret the business needs and ultimately deliver a report which helps develop
current and future strategy.
Capacity Planning
Embodied Carbon Consulting
With the impending arrival of an EU-wide requirement to measure the carbon emissions associated with construction materials throughout their whole lifecycle, it is becoming important to understand the impact of construction method on your Data Centres’ carbon footprint. As the Carbon question gathers momentum it is likely to add weight to the preference for refitting over new build as the option with least carbon impact. At Airflow Engineering we offer a range of services centred around certifying the Embodied Carbon of retrofit and new data centre construction projects. We also provide Embodied Product Declarations for individual component products such as Modular Data Centres,
Generators and CRAC units.
Energy Efficient Analysis
Energy Saving analysis identifies areas in the facility where energy is wasted or inefficiently managed. Energy-saving analysis assists the data centre owner-operators in reducing their energy consumption and costs. This is achieved by building the virtual model and running different scenarios, and reporting with both the analysis results and recommendations, which addresses the inefficiency. The analysis will help in assessing how the different processes can be optimized to reduce energy wastage and
energy costs. The recommendations in the report will help the client to build an energy optimization strategy.
Airflow Optioneering
Airflow Optioneering is the process of solving difficult airflow problems either in existing or new data halls. Working with our CFD team to analyse the cooling system performance we compare results and identify performance patterns which reappear time and time again. The Optioneering process simulates multiple solutions until a fault free design is reached. We guide the engineering team in defining architectural and structural changes necessary to achieve improved performance. Our solutions take account of the necessary velocity, pressure and temperature of the airflow while eliminating the negative effects of vortices, turbulence, venturi effects and hot spots. As designers we understand the needs of the data centre operators and the server manufactures and to combine both to ensure exceptional data hall performance. This process reduces the CFD simulation time and
cost by up to 60% by eliminating the trial and error cycle
A Digital Twin is a digital replica of physical assets, processes, systems, and devices that can be used to predict the impact of change in the data centre. The digital twin acts as a virtual prototype encompassing the entire IT and Facility infrastructure as well as combining both monitoring and simulation. The process involves gathering live data from the facilities monitoring system, which shows the past and current performance of the data centre and combines it with the simulated CFD model, which shows the effect of future changes. The results from the simulation will help in efficient
capacity planning, a reduction of cooling resource isolation, and increased overall facility reliability.