Technical Papers
MISSION-CRITICAL FACILITIES
PRODUCING DATA CENTERS SMARTER, FASTER, BETTER IN A "24 X 7" WORLD
By Bill Helfrich, David Buckel and Herman Diebler
DPR Construction Inc.
The explosion of the Internet, coupled with the growing telecommunications industry, has given birth to a new realm of projects built specifically to handle Internet hosting, e-commerce and data processing operations. These mission-critical facilities must provide users with continuous up time to meet the needs of the "24 x 7" business environment. Whether the facility is a corporate data processing, call center, e-commerce or co-location hosting center, any down time for any reason is not allowed. These facilities will be serving as the "store-fronts" of the future and must be built and maintained to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Just as important as the facility itself is the time to market. As companies race to bring products to market faster than the competition, project delivery expectations are rising with "fast-track" now being the norm. To ensure a smooth, timely and cost-efficient delivery process, the development of these facilities must be broken down into two equally important phases: Preconstruction and implementation.
"Setting the Stage" — Preconstruction
Upfront planning sets the stage for the entire project. Preconstruction includes developing action plans or mechanisms for all activities required from site selection through design and procurement of long-lead-time equipment and materials.
It is also important to have buy-in from all team members right from the start. Therefore, as with any major production, the first step is to select the cast or project team, including the architect, contractor, and electrical and mechanical engineers, to deliver these projects.
Often the telecommunications and e-commerce industries require multiple facility locations in different regions to take advantage of major Internet fiber portals. Therefore, a key consideration when choosing the team is to compare individual regional experience with cumulative national expertise. By picking team members who have national resources, owners can reduce a team’s learning curve – saving time and money – as well as ensure that facilities are being built in the same way each time. Standardization of facilities allows for more efficient maintenance and repair, particularly when looking at the national "big picture."
Once the team is in place, "act one" begins with a meeting to develop a fully defined facility-planning guide, which outlines items, such as computer room size, design parameters, equipment room electrical and HVAC loading, and other physical design and related requirements (i.e., uninterrupted power supply capacity and redundancy, emergency generator capacities, data cabling requirements, etc.). In conjunction, a detailed conceptual budget and a schedule model for all design, permitting, buy-out, construction and equipment activities needs to be outlined and discussed to confirm that all team members are on the "same page." Constant communication is especially crucial to the success of these fast-track projects.
In addition to the plan, budget and schedule, preconstruction consists of reviewing site selection due diligence standards, developing a procurement strategy for both equipment and trades, creating project communication processes, and identifying and defining an overall administrative management strategy – all mechanisms for an efficient transition into the implementation phase of the project.
Although, in some cases, the deadlines mandated by the owner and the need to get the product to market may compress upfront planning, preconstruction plays an extremely important role in the delivery process. The guidelines and standards established at the outset often save valuable time in the long run – time that could amount to crucial hours or days, especially when this phase may only be four or five weeks.
"The Show" — Implementation
The show must always go on. Just as the cast works closely together during a production – improvising and adapting to guarantee an outstanding show night after night – a project team must perform with the same mindset and remain flexible to adjust to any arising issues. There is no time for second chances in data center construction. An experienced team understands the interlocking sequence of events and that once the switch is turned on at the end of the project, the facility needs to be running immediately at full capacity.
Having the entire team on board at the project’s outset is one way to ensure a seamless transition from the programming and strategic planning that takes place during preconstruction through the implementation phase that addresses site-specific issues during actual construction. The immediate involvement of trades also allows design coordination, detailing, material ordering and pre-task planning to start as soon as possible.
Following are additional critical factors for successfully delivering these highly technical, fast-track projects:
Project design and delivery approach
Each project is different. Therefore, it is important to clearly define and identify the corporate goals and objectives of the customer for its projects and incorporate them into the project design and delivery approach. A due diligence investigation should also be conducted that analyzes various building conditions, including the influence of physical characteristics of the site and/or existing building(s), the regulatory impact of locations arising from local building codes and zoning ordinances, and any special approvals that may be required. The site-specific information that is gathered during the due diligence should then be integrated into the facility-planning guidelines developed during the initial programming meetings.
For instance, generally speaking, one-story buildings are a better choice than multi-story structures as they allow for shorter utility runs. In addition, system redundancy is a vital part of facility design. Any system failure or routine maintenance that compromises operations could result in significant loss of revenue, compromise operations and tarnish reputations. Depending on the facility use and impact of any possible down time, systems redundancy will be designed to a minimum of N + 1 redundancy or greater.
Site Selection / Building Evaluation
"Location, Location, Bandwidth?" The old real estate adage is changing in today’s high-tech world as access to Internet connectivity plays a larger role in a company’s real estate decisions. E-commerce companies want to be located as close as possible to the Metropolitan Access Exchanged (MAE) East in Washington D.C. and MAE West in San Jose, Calif. — the two hubs where major networks converge and pass Internet traffic around the world. Being near these sites is crucial because telecom carriers charge access rates based on distance. As real estate around these hubs is at a premium, leases are being signed quickly, sometimes without a full-site/building evaluation, leaving the owner vulnerable to other factors that can often effect the development of a facility.
For example, Company X signs a 10-year lease for a building with a prime bandwidth location and wants the facility up and running as quickly as possible. A project team is selected, and upon the first walk through, it is discovered that the building needs a complete seismic upgrade. This upgrade is the responsibility of the building’s owner and/or developer, and with the already signed lease, Company X’s facility construction schedule now hinges upon the building owner’s responsiveness.
In the long run, it may have been quicker and more cost-effective for Company X to choose a building that was structurally sound but farther from the bandwidth as fiber-optic cabling takes much less time to install than completing a seismic retrofit. Plus, Company X would then maintain control of the infrastructure installation rather than being effected by the landlord’s schedule.
Procurement of Long-Lead Items
Long-lead equipment procurement can make or break a project. The team should immediately determine the effect design and equipment selection has on the overall completion deadline and installation milestones. Once equipment is identified as being long lead, the team should manage the vendor selection process, track fabrication and delivery timeframes, and coordinate delivery and installation. This ensures not only competitive pricing but also timely delivery and a coordinated installation.
For example, the fact that a Continuous Power System (CPS) has a much longer procurement time, approximately eight months, than the Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS), which takes only 14-18 weeks, needs to be taken into account when choosing a power system and scheduling construction. Other long-lead items include HVAC equipment, emergency generators, condensers, electrical switchgear, lighting and raised access flooring.
Many owners are arranging national pricing agreements with equipment vendors. This, in theory, is a good idea. However, the coordination of this equipment into the site design needs to be carefully reviewed by the team to allow for equipment adjustments and variations based on the needs and constraints of each site.
City Permitting
Maintaining strong relationships with municipalities and government agencies in metropolitan areas is particularly helpful when building on the fast track. An upfront, in-depth knowledge of a city’s submission requirements, plan check and permit costs, construction phase regulations, inspection requirements, and all the steps necessary to bring the project through the approval stage, including field work inspections and the Final Occupancy Permit, can expedite a project.
In addition, in already congested areas, such as Washington D.C., companies should leverage the "community friendly" nature of these facilities when negotiating with city planners. These facilities are quite attractive to planning agencies as they bring top name technology firms into a municipality and offer high tax revenues without "environmental baggage" (i.e., waste, pollution, population increase causing the need to add to an already stressed infrastructure, etc.).
Availability of Permanent Power / Fiber Optic Connection
The availability of permanent power from the electric utility is critical to the startup of equipment once it arrives on site. An active role should be taken by the team to ensure that adequate power is available at the required milestone dates. For example, as calculations are submitted to the electric utility company, drawings of actual field conditions should also be provided to assist the utility company and the design team in making initial commitments on power source location and conduit routing. This allows completion of critical underground work prior to the utility company finishing their engineering and equipment arriving on site.
Equally important is a site’s access to fiber optic networks. The location needs to be carefully evaluated to ensure that the fiber optic cabling is more than adequate, preferably with connections to multiple carriers to ensure continuous operation and competitive usage rates.
System Startup and Commissioning
As equipment startup is even more critical in the development of these mission critical facilities, the construction manager/general contractor needs to be involved with the mechanical and electrical equipment much earlier in the game. A mechanical and electrical coordinator should be assigned to work with the engineers from the very beginning to conduct a detailed survey, walk down and punchlist for each system prior to startup. The coordinators can also make certain the equipment has been checked and is running correctly prior to the start of system operation.
In addition, with these facilities the maintenance of equipment is just as important as the installation. Therefore, the team should provide comprehensive documentation and recommendations for training operators and ongoing facility maintenance.
As time is usually a priority for developing these mission critical facilities, the final and most important requirements for the project team are to continuously think proactively and remain as flexible as possible while building smarter, faster, better in "real time."
Bill Helfrich and David Buckel are members of DPR Construction Inc.’s national data/com facility group, and Herman Diebler is the regional manager of DPR’s Northern Virginia office. Specializing in the construction of technically demanding projects, DPR has 13 offices across the nation and has built numerous data centers for such clients as MCI/Worldcom, Apple, Level 3, E*Trade, Equinix, Charles Schwab, UUNET, General Magic, COLO.com and SoftNet. For more information, please visit DPR’s Website at www.dprinc.com.
