ASHRAE Journal - September 2014 - 84

COLUMN DATA CENTERS
Donald L. Beaty

Part One, Digital Healthcare Planning

Digital Revolution Impact
BY DONALD L. BEATY, P.E., FELLOW ASHRAE

Continued improvement in building envelope performance, increased lighting efficiency, impacts of model energy codes and increased dialogues about net zero energy,
has resulted in changes to the load profile of buildings. In a number of cases, this
means that occupied zone loads represent a higher percentage of the total conditioning load. These loads are the combination of people, personal digital equipment, and
commercial equipment. The zone level occupancy impact is a challenge since the workplace environment is evolving with people working remotely (part of the time at home)
combined with increasingly rapid changes in the reliance on digital equipment.
The digital revolution is everywhere and it is continually changing and evolving. Enhanced capabilities are
being incorporated into smartphones, wearables, and
other portable equipment. One perspective is to consider that there is now a "digital occupancy" component
of a facility's overall occupancy. The digital occupancy
can have unique power, cooling, and network requirements. In the case of personal portable devices, the
impact on the cooling is negligible but can have more
than a trivial impact on local power and network. For
example, consider how the electrical outlet accommodations in hotel rooms have increased. There has been an
outlet quantity increase and a circuit loading change.
Meeting these requirements can result in these services
(both wired and wireless) competing with one another for
available space. Power, cooling, and network designs are
often handled somewhat independently. In today's digital
world, there is an increased importance in applying a holistic approach to achieve seamless interoperability. The net
result is the critical need for holistic integration of mechanical, electrical, and technology (electronic or digital).
While data centers are often a necessary element of
the digital support infrastructure (on premises, off premised, or outsourced), there is often a need for smaller,
local technology closets and spaces to serve present and
future needs.
ASHRAE Technical Committee TC 9.9's official title is
"Mission Critical Facilities, Data Centers, Technology
Spaces and Electronic Equipment," so by definition, it
covers a broad range of topics. This is the first in a series
84

ASHRAE JOURNAL

ashrae.org

SEPTEM BER 2014

of columns addressing various building types more
from the perspective of technology spaces and electronic
equipment.

ASHRAE TC 9.9
TC 9.9's Thermal Guidelines identifies the recommended and allowable temperature and humidity
ranges for information technology (IT) equipment such
as servers and communication equipment (Figure 1).
The scope of the Thermal Guidelines should not be construed as being limited to data centers. Rather, it applies
to IT equipment in any location; even smaller scale
deployment such as closets, equipment rooms, multipurpose rooms, etc.
Recommended Range Definition: The purpose of the
recommended envelope is to give guidance to data center operators on maintaining high reliability and also
operating their data centers in the most energy efficient
manner.
Allowable Range Definition: The allowable envelope
is where the IT manufacturers test their equipment in
order to verify that the equipment will function within
those environmental boundaries.
Prior to TC 9.9, a common term used for data center
cooling units was "precision air conditioning." This was
because the traditional approach to data centers was to
have tight temperature and humidity control. Figure 1 indicates that even within the Recommended Envelope (red),
Donald L. Beaty, P.E., is president of DLB Associates Consulting Engineers, in Eatontown,
N.J. He is publications chair of ASHRAE TC 9.9.



ASHRAE Journal - September 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ASHRAE Journal - September 2014

Contents
ASHRAE Journal - September 2014 - Cover1
ASHRAE Journal - September 2014 - Cover2
ASHRAE Journal - September 2014 - 1
ASHRAE Journal - September 2014 - 2
ASHRAE Journal - September 2014 - Contents
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ASHRAE Journal - September 2014 - SCover1
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