New Colocation Data Centers: Meeting Increasing Demands through Smarter Building Solutions
Mortenson · Nathan Welch, Cameron McClay
This Mortenson article offers a builder's perspective on delivering colocation campuses with phased tenant handovers.
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Overview
The article is a contractor's view written by Nathan Welch and Cameron McClay, dated 16 October 2024. Its subject is delivering colocation campuses with phased tenant handovers. The first emphasis is operational continuity. Colocation facilities must run at full capacity during maintenance, which makes utility and infrastructure redundancy essential. The second emphasis is planning: handling of outages and disruption should be planned before design is complete, so as to avoid change orders.
The third emphasis is commissioning. The article recommends a greater level of commissioning for redundant electrical paths and mechanical equipment early in the project. Spaces handed over at varying times require zero-disruption phasing, meaning that live tenant space and space under construction must be run separately. It also highlights early integrated partnerships. The viewpoint is that of a contractor and therefore has the character of commercial guidance; it contains no numeric benchmarks or independent comparison.
ASHRAE Guideline 0 and the Uptime Tier Standard: Operational Sustainability are named as related references. Readers should bear in mind that the article focuses on delivery and construction management rather than design; even so, topics such as phased handover, commissioning scope and outage planning directly affect redundancy and separation decisions made at design stage. The article therefore works as a reminder to designers of delivery reality.
Key points
- The article is dated 16 October 2024; authors are Nathan Welch and Cameron McClay.
- Colocation facilities must run at full capacity during maintenance, making utility redundancy essential.
- Outage and disruption handling should be planned before design is complete to avoid change orders.
- A greater level of commissioning is recommended for redundant electrical paths and mechanical equipment early in the project.
- Spaces handed over at varying times require zero-disruption phasing.
- Early integrated partnerships are emphasised.
- Related references: ASHRAE Guideline 0, Uptime Tier Standard: Operational Sustainability.
Using it in design
- In the phasing module, model staged handovers with live-side/build-side separation.
- Generate commissioning scope per redundant path for each phase.
- Plan and document outage and disruption scenarios before design is complete.
- Treat the requirement to run at full capacity during maintenance as an input to redundancy design.
- Schedule joint design meetings with contractor and operations teams at an early stage.
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Who should read it
Owners, designers, contractors and commissioning teams developing colocation campuses.
Related standards
- ASHRAE Guideline 0
- Uptime Tier Standard: Operational Sustainability
Publication details
- Authors
- Nathan Welch; Cameron McClay
- Publisher
- Mortenson
- Year
- 2024
- Document language
- English
- Source type
- Expert / community
- Access
- Free to read
- Licence
- Copyright retained; citation only — the publisher’s terms apply to the original document
Original licence note
Public web article; cited only.
Citation
Nathan Welch; Cameron McClay (2024). New Colocation Data Centers: Meeting Increasing Demands through Smarter Building Solutions. Mortenson. https://www.mortenson.com/news-insights/colocation-data-centers-meeting-demands-smarter-building-solutions
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