Can’t live with them – can’t live without them. Can data centres become accepted in the cityscape?
The data centre sector has long relied on fast-track engineering, construction projects and working with the latest technology to keep pace with society’s increasing dependence on data and connectivity. Can innovation now help to improve how data centres integrate into our cities? Rob Jagtenberg, Senior Lead Engineer for Mission Critical Facilities at Haskoning, looks at past successes and future plans.
How has the sector developed over the course of your career?
Sixteen years ago, I designed my first data centre. You might not recognise it as such today. It was almost 3MW – considered huge at the time – and housed in part of an office building. Now, data storage has been centralised and we are designing dedicated campuses delivering 30 to 60 megawatts or more from a single site.
There are benefits from centralisation – these new structures are more efficient, safe and reliable. Operational costs have come down, reducing the cost of data services for everyone. There are disadvantages too. People were less aware of data centres when they were just 10 racks in one room inside an office. Now most of these inefficient small sites have migrated to huge buildings containing corridors of racks with computers. It makes them much more visible and part of public and political debate.
What drives the growth of these structures?
Although providers don’t limit data usage, it must be stored somewhere, and connectivity has to be suitable for this amount of data. Medical research, climate science, weather forecasting, astrology and even predictions of consumer buying behaviour have all made strides through the analysis of massive data sets. Infrastructure and computing power are needed to make all this possible.
We take connectivity and storage capacity for granted but forget that all this data needs power and needs to be stored somewhere.
Looking back over your career to date, which project are you most proud of?
One of the defining features of work in this sector is the constant challenge to improve and optimise. A landmark project for me was when we fully detailed the internal design of a data centre for the first time – right down to nuts and bolts level. It was a steep learning curve but the combination of our expertise and 3D modelling enabled us to deliver a significant improvement in server density and operational efficiency with a lot of appreciation from our client. We continue to work with the latest technology to design every data centre efficient and reliable. This has placed data centres at the forefront in areas such as energy storage, cooling and security.Is it possible to reduce the power consumed by the sector?
The IT servers in the data centre consume 85% of the power. With the demand still exploding, a power reduction in the sector is not expected. The energy efficiency of the data centre has been an area of significant focus over the last decades with impressive results. The efficiency is measured by a universally accepted ratio known as Power Usage Effectiveness - or PUE. Governments across Europe set regulatory guidelines for the PUE of new builds. However, on its own, the measure is deceptive.A primary use of power - over and above what is required for the servers themselves - is for cooling. One option is evaporative cooling which requires less power than mechanical chillers. However, evaporative cooling requires lots of water – so this has its own climate footprint and is a focus for public concern as well. Our designs seek the optimal balance for power and water efficiency depending on the location of the site, the clients and type of servers to be used in the building, as well as the availability of these resources.
Are data centres changing in response to public opinion?
Yes, definitely! It is something we pay close attention to together with our clients. It can already be seen in the architectural design. Visually dramatic buildings are overturning the ‘grey box’ tradition to create a positive addition to the built environment. The AM3/AM4 building in Science Park Amsterdam is a case in point. It has been designed so that when it reaches the end of its life as a data centre, it can be converted easily into housing. In Germany, cities require green facades for data centres, seen in our recent projects in Munich and Frankfurt. The external façade of the data centre blends into the cityscape with greenery from top to bottom. In addition, the data centre is powered with 100% renewable energy and features highly efficient operations.
Why are data centres being built in our most vibrant cities where there are so many demands on space?
In general, data centres are best placed at the hot spots of connectivity, where the economy and grid Voltage are stable, security is easy to implement, there is sufficient expertise for construction and maintenance, little corruption, a stable and predictable political situation and where cooling is not too difficult. This makes Western Europe very attractive. However, in view of the increasing pressures on our cities, I believe there should in future be more consideration as to which services really need to be located in city centres.
Some activities which bring value to society do need ultra-fast access but for storage and activities in the cloud, access speed is less critical. To address this point, we need to have open conversations and more transparency in the digital economy as to which types of activities we are willing to accommodate and support in our cities.
One of the problems faced by data centres we are building in some places in Africa is the unreliability of the grid power which can lead to emergency power generators running for 18 hours a day. Based on the fuel cost alone, this is a difficult business case, quite apart from emissions and maintenance.
How is Haskoning leading the way on sustainability in the sector?
We have designed two data centres in Finland where thousands of households benefit from the residual heat generated. This can be difficult to achieve as the hot water from the data centre is often only slightly above 30°C but future developments in the IT sector - for example by immersing servers in oil baths - are opening up new possibilities to raise the temperature and reuse the heat more efficiently from a designers’ perspective.
Another focus for innovation is on eliminating or limiting the use of diesel generators to avoid noise and emissions during power outages. Working in partnership with genset suppliers, we already have some systems running on synthetic diesel and are engaged in developments with hydrogen. In some new projects, we are designing data halls without a backup generator – possible where there is geographical redundancy so if the data centre in one city shuts down, data centres in another take over.
When you look into the future, what do you see?
Innovation characterises the data centre sector. Through its relatively short lifespan, it has achieved previously unthinkable levels of power efficiency and secured outstanding reliability for what are often mission critical facilities. This history of innovation provides me with confidence that with new insights and perspectives, data centres can adapt to gain increased public acceptance. By working together with all stakeholders, we can and will move towards an increasingly sustainable and valued data centre industry.Working with the latest technologies in an ever-changing environment, with high-end clients and industry professionals, makes the data centre sector an extremely interesting field of work. If you want to solve complex challenges in an exciting and inclusive environment while achieving your ambitions, working at Haskoning might be something for you.
