NV5 provided mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection, and telecommunications design for one of the client’s most critical infrastructure assets, their primary Data Center. The design was for a new “Tier III Plus” data center and associated support space within an existing 50,000 SF building. The design and initial 12,000 SF build out satisfied the client’s day one requirements with the remaining build out and infrastructure to be installed at a later date without any disruption to business operations. The facility was sized at 125 watts/SF of server load with a combination of high and medium density server cabinets, in addition to space for storage drives and legacy equipment. The facility also included 10,000 SF of offices, conference rooms, a security area, dock space, and restrooms.
The electrical system was the most critical and had to have multiple redundancy to achieve the Tier III Plus design. The complexity of this system was a significant challenge of the project since there was no service to the building prior to the redesign. NV5 developed a new primary and secondary electrical service to the site with the utility company to overcome this challenge and ensure the data center would remain operational if power was lost. The fire protection system was completely removed and upgraded to achieve the Tier III Plus design, and an emergency water outlet was added to the building in the event of a tower going down. NV5 also provided the cable design and developed the topology for the server application.
The project was completed 100% in Revit, which resulted in less than 1% change orders on the project and saved the client money. NV5 also helped the client achieve $320,000 in rebate money from the utility company as a result of the energy efficient design.