When a concept, or as we call it – a design task, has been developed, work is passed on to the designers. Our engineers and designers develop the data centre design according to technical requirements and client needs, as well as local and international standards, for example, requirements defined by Uptime Institute.
A SIA Citrus Solutions engineer certified by Uptime Institute also participates in the design development of a data centre. This is especially important in situations when a data centre is intended to be TIER certified, or in the case when it is intended for a data centre to be constructed according to TIERrequirements, but the certification process is not intended.
If the determining factors for construction of residential or office buildings are related with civil engineering issues, and the architect is primarily responsible for this, then the critical systems are primary in the construction of the data centre, and other factors are organised according to the requirements for constructing these systems. Optimal project development of electrical supply and cooling systems are especially important, because these are the largest expenses in a data centre.
We can participate in the project as its chief designer and take on the whole design process that includes civil engineering, heating, ventilation, water supply, electrical supply, cooling, the building management system or BMS, video surveillance, access, telecommunications, gas cooling, fire detection alarm and notification system, and/or we can take on the design and realisation of construction of critical systems.
Experience indicates that for this type of project, it is not an appropriate practice to delegate construction of separate critical infrastructural parts to separate suppliers. Otherwise, focus on the big picture gets lost – requirements for construction of critical systems which are immeasurably important in the case of data centre construction. To ensure project realisation in foreign countries, we involve foreign collaborators in the design process – architects and builders, while completely managing the project and designing the data centre’s critical systems using our own resources – engineers and designers. Our competitive advantage is experience in constructing certified data centres and competence in design and construction of unique critical systems. This means that we view a data centre as a complex assemblage, evaluating its operation and most suitable solutions as a whole.
