Performance Enhancing Panels
Brett Harrington, divisional firewall manager, ISD Solutions, the specialist in composite panel design and construction, tells why he believes they are the future, due to cost and energy savings that can be made.
A new approach is improving the building performance of datacentres and is already delivering significant reductions in build and running costs. A composite panel construction technique using insulated, controlled- environment panels as the construction medium, completely changes conventional datacentre or data hall design and build, bringing significant savings to developers and operators.
Composite partitions are sometimes considered a secondary aspect of a datacentre build, but earlier consultation at the design stage, will produce far better results. Steel- faced composite panels, for example, when used in firewall applications, represent a resilient, cleaner, and more secure structure, with significant energy efficiencies and cost savings, as well as longer-term reductions in running costs.
ISD's composite panel solutions for datacentres are an evolutionary replacement compared to more traditional builds. They are faster to install, more aesthetically pleasing and completely demountable for re-use or re-positioning. This is particularly important when data halls need to be added or expanded and partitioning needs to be adapted. Designed and constructed either for complete datacentres, or for data halls within an existing building, composite panels help to address issues relating to cost and energy efficiency; ventilation and cooling; cleanliness; optimal design; and fire and sound-proofing.
Cost and energy
efficiency The composite panels used are a low carbon building material with a reduced ‘global warming potential’ (GWP). Since fewer materials are used and less energy is required to provide controlled
environments, composite panel construction better satisfies WRAP and BREEAM targets. This approach helps datacentres with carbon debt reduction and improves carbon reporting.
A key benefit is speed of construction and a requirement for fewer raw materials - significantly less secondary steelwork, for example.
Hot and cold aisle
segregation A basic hot aisle/cold aisle configuration is created when the equipment racks and the cooling system’s air supply and return are designed to prevent mixing of the hot rack exhaust air and the cool supply air drawn into the racks.
With proper isolation to achieve a front-to-back airflow pattern, the temperature of the hot aisle will no longer impact the temperature of the racks or the reliable operation of the datacentre; the hot aisle becomes a heat exhaust. The HVAC system is efficiently configured to supply cold air exclusively to the cold aisles and pull return air only from the hot aisles while the composite panels provide a lightweight solution to completely seal these areas.
Ventilation and cooling With air-conditioning a major overhead of datacentres, the thermal qualities of metal-faced composite panels and the ability to create completely airtight structures, make it easier to control ventilation and temperature, with a long-term positive impact on the environment, stability and energy consumption.
In a recent £1.1million datacentre project in Gloucester, we installed 8000m2
of 2-hr fire-rated mineral-
fibre panels and over 150 fire-rated pedestrian doors to virtually all internal walls. By building the data
32 | DATA CENTRE MANAGEMENT
halls from mineral fibre panels, nearly all inside walls to the supporting plant and battery areas were constructed and the result was a fully certified fire- rated structure that was able to pass stringent air tests.
The requirement was for full airflow at the top and bottom of the non-fire- rated data hall walls. The standard fixing details required the base and head to be permanently fixed, so our in-house design team used innovative and unique methods to support the panels without making penetrations to any panels. In all other supporting areas, ISD installed a full-fire-rated partition, providing 120 minutes of integrity and insulation throughout the centre. All partitions were installed on three levels within the 18-week program. The benefits for our construction partner were an efficient and effective solution to a demanding programme.
Further to this success, our most innovative energy-efficient datacentre though was in Scandinavia for a large US organisation, where sea-water cooling and low-cost wind farm energy were used successfully.
Cleanliness Cleanliness of panels is a major issue in datacentre construction and operation. Contaminants such as dust have a severe detrimental effect on the sensitive equipment used in datacentres and most contractors incorporate a period of deep clean before handover to the end user or client. Expected to operate 24/7, 365 days-a-year datacentres require a high-performance, environmentally friendly solution, with extremely low running costs.
A composite panel design minimises issues from contaminants and produces a structure that is significantly cleaner than traditional
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