ASHRAE Technical Committee 9.9

 

 

TC 9.9 is concerned with all aspects of mission critical facilities, technology spaces, and electronic equipment and systems. This includes data centers, computer rooms/closets, server rooms, raised-floor environments, high-density loads, emergency/network operations centers, telecom facilities, communications rooms/closets, and electronic equipment rooms/closets.

Our members offer their wide knowledge on these topics in the many different activities performed by our committee.

  1. Programs: The Committee sponsors symposia, seminars and forums at the ASHRAE Society national meetings.

  2. Research: The committee has developed a research priority list that aligns with both committee and ASHRAE goals. We have one research topic in the work statement phase.

  3. Handbook: We aim to provide our assistance in the writing and revision of those chapters in the ASHRAE Handbook which relate to our field of expertise.

  4. Standards and Codes: We are also involved with the writing and revision of standards.

The meetings represent a good way for TC members to become closely involved with the activities of the committee.

The following were presented by TC9.9 at the January 2008 Winter Meeting in New York City, NY:

Transactions Session 1 Sunday 1/20 8:00 AM – 9:30 AM Room: To Be Determined

High Density Cooling Issues Update – January 2008 Sponsor: TC 09.09 Mission Critical Facilities,Technology Spaces and Electronic Equipment Chair: Terry Rodgers, Member, Syska Hennessy Group, Inc., Charlotte, NC This session addresses cooling of high density electronic equipment installations such as data centers, telecommunication facilities, and combinations thereof. Power densities of 1000 watts per square meter (93 watts per square foot) or higher are increasingly commonplace. Issues of recent concern are provision, distribution and control of adequate airflow, the return to liquid cooling, reliability, and best practices.

1. Some Worst Case Practices in Data Centers (NY-08-001) Robert F. Sullivan, Ph.D., The Uptime Institute, Morgan Hill, CA 2. Monitoring Vibration at Data Centers (NY-08-002) Budy D. Notohardjono, Ph.D., P.E., Member and Roger R. Schmidt, Ph.D., P.E., Member, IBM Corp., Poughkeepsie, NY 3. Current Best Practices in High Density Cooling Applications (NY-08-003) Vali Sorell, P.E., Member, Syska Hennessy Group,Inc., Charlotte, NC 4. Method for Optimizing Equipment Cooling Effectiveness and HVAC Cooling Costs in Telecom and Data Centers (NY-08-004) Magnus K. Herrlin, Ph.D., Member, ANCIS, Inc., San Francisco, CA and Kishor Khankari, Ph.D., Member, Fluent, Inc., Ann Arbor, MI

Transactions Session 2 Sunday 1/20 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM Room: Mercury

Energy Efficiency and Sustainability of Datacom Facilities Sponsor: TC 09.09 Mission Critical Facilities, Technology Spaces and Electronic Equipment Chair: Jeff P. Trower, Member, Data Aire, Orange, CA The design approach for mission critical facilities has typically concentrated on uptime and reliability, with limited consideration toward reducing energy and improving sustainability. Yet, due to the steep growth curve in power density and the 24/7 utilization of today’s data centers, enormous opportunities can be found for optimizing energy efficiency. The papers presented in this transactions session provide valuable information on methods and analysis techniques to optimize energy efficiency in data centers. 1. Electrical and Heat Load Planning: Keep Your Data Processing Environment Running (NY-08-005) Joe Prisco, Pamela Lembke and Marvin M. Misgren, IBM Corp., Rochester, MN 2. Evaporative Cooling Choices to Maximize Waterside Economizer Use in Datacom Installations (NY-08-006) John W. Lane, Associate Member and Daryn Cline, Associate Member, Evapco, Inc., Taneytown, MD 3. Geothermal Heat Rejection Systems for Data Centers (NY-08-007) Dennis R. Landsberg, Ph.D., P.E., Member, L&S Energy Services, Inc., Clifton Park, NY; Doug K. McLellan, P.E., Member and Christopher W. Kurkjian, P.E., Member, EYP Mission Critical Facilities, Inc., Washington, D.C. 4. Optimizing Data Center TCO: Efficiency Metrics and an Infrastructure Cost Model (NY-08-008) Christopher G. Malone, Ph.D. and Christian L. Belady, Hewlett-Packard Co., Roseville, CA

Forum 2 Sunday 1/20 12:40 PM – 1:20 PM Room: Sutton Center

Long Term Data Center Planning: The Push Toward Net-Zero Energy and other Considerations Sponsor: TC 09.09 Mission Critical Facilities, Technology Spaces and Electronic Equipment Moderator: Donald L. Beaty, P.E., Member, DLB Associates Consulting Engineers, Ocean, NJ Data center energy consumption is currently a hot topic, and is likely to remain so due to the dichotomy between the high energy consumption of server facilities and ASHRAE’s embraced goal of net-zero energy consumption in buildings. The goal of this forum is to galvanize discussion of the impact of net-zero energy buildings on long term data center planning. There will also be an opportunity to discuss other issues of long-term interest to datacom facility planners, owners and managers, such as current trends that could drive the industry toward greater reliability, increased use of liquid cooling, improved disaster planning, etc.

Seminar 45 Javits Tuesday 1/22 8:30 AM – 10:00 AM Room: 1B03 at Javits

Energy-Efficient Designs for Data Centers: Oxymoron or Reality?, Part 1 Sponsor: TC 05.07 Evaporative Cooling; TC 09.09 Mission Critical Facilities, Technology Spaces and Electronic Equipment Chair: Leon E. Shapiro, Member, VRTX Technologies, Las Vegas, NV A recent study by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories indicates that, in 2005, data centers consumed approximately 1.2% of the total electricity in the United States. This percentage promises to increase in the future. In conjunction with providing highly reliable, and often fault tolerant computing environments, many data centers are developing strategies to minimize energy costs associated with operating high powered computing equipment. This program provides an overview of trends in high reliability and energy efficiency, focusing on the interfaces and potential conflicts of these systems, and identifies practical means to implement energy efficiency in data centers without compromising reliability. 1. Improving Industrial Competitiveness by Using the Environment for Free Cooling in Data Centers: Eliminating the Fear Factor Stephen Fok, P.E., Member, Pacific Gas and Electric Co., San Francisco, CA 2. Is There a Cost Benefit to Using Indirect Evaporative Cooling for Data Centers? Nicholas H. Des Champs, Ph.D., P.E., Fellow, Des Champs Laboratories, Buena Vista, VA 3. University of Washington: A Case Study in Recovering from Rejection Jeff Sloan, P.E., Member, McKinstry Co., Seattle, WA

Seminar 53 Javits Tuesday 1/22 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM Room: 1B03 at Javits

Energy Efficient Designs for Data Centers—Oxymoron or Reality?: Part 2 Sponsor: TC 05.07 Evaporative Cooling Chair: Leon Shapiro, Member, VRTX Technologies, Las Vegas, NV A recent study by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories indicates that, in 2005, data centers consumed approximately 1.2% of the total electricity in the United States. This%age promises to increase in the future. In conjunction with providing highly reliable, and often fault tolerant computing environments, many data centers are developing strategies to minimize energy costs associated with operating high powered computing equipment. This program provides an overview of trends in high reliability and energy efficiency, focusing on the interfaces and potential conflicts of these systems, and identify practical means to implement energy efficiency in data centers without compromising reliability. 1. Retrofit of a Mid-80’s Data Center Designed for 45W/SF to Support 300W/sf Through Energy Efficient HVAC Design Michael Connor, P.E., Member, X-nth, Inc., Alpharetta, GA 2. Data Center Cooling: 5 Steps to “Right Sizing” Donald L. Beaty, P.E., Member, DLB Associates Consulting Engineers, Ocean, NJ 3. Energy Efficiency and Reliability: Are They Compatible? How Do We Design and Operate Highly Efficient Data Centers Without Compromising Reliability? Christopher Kurkjian, P.E., Member, EYP Mission Critical Facilities, Albany, NY

Seminar 69 Javits Wednesday 1/23 8:30 AM – 10:00 AM Room: 1B03 at Javits

Data Centers in the Spotlight: National Energy Perspectives and Recent ASHRAE Publications, Part 1 Sponsor: TC 09.09 Mission Critical Facilities,Technology Spaces and Electronic Equipment Chair: Jack Glass, Member, Citigroup, New York, NY Data centers are in the spotlight: Congress passed Public Law 109-431 in December 2006 and the USEPA responded with a report to Congress. The first half of this seminar examines datacom energy use from a national perspective, including viewpoints from the U.S. DOE, U.S. EPA, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories. The second half of the seminar provides overviews of ASHRAE’s response to meeting needs in the datacom industry, including energy. The three presentations provide overviews of ASHRAE books either recently published or close to completion, with themes on the topics of energy efficiency, structural and seismic engineering, and contamination. 1. Demonstrations to Illustrate Energy Efficiency Opportunities Bill Tschudi, P.E., Member, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories, Berkeley, CA 2. U.S. Government Programs to Advance Data Center Energy Efficiency Paul Scheihing, P.E., U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, D.C. 3. U.S. EPA Report to Congress in Response to PL 109-431 Andrew Fanara, Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C.

Seminar 79 Javits Wednesday 1/23 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM Room: 1B03 at Javits

Data Centers in the Spotlight: National Energy Perspectives and Recent ASHRAE Publications, Part 2 Sponsor: TC 09.09 Mission Critical Facilities,Technology Spaces and Electronic Equipment Chair: Jack Glass, Member, Citigroup, New York, NY Data centers are in the spotlight: Congress passed Public Law 109-431 in December 2006 and the USEPA responded with a report to Congress. The first half of this seminar examines datacom energy use from a national perspective, including viewpoints from the U.S. DOE, U.S. EPA, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories. The second half of the seminar provides overviews of ASHRAE’s response to meeting needs in the datacom industry, including energy. The three presentations provide overviews of ASHRAE books either recently published or close to completion, with themes on the topics of energy efficiency, structural and seismic engineering, and contamination. 1. Overview of New ASHRAE Publication: Structural and Vibration Guidelines for Datacom Equipment Centers Budy D. Ntohardjono, Ph.D., P.E., Member, IBM Corp., Poughkeepsie, NY 2. Overview of New ASHRAE Publication: Best Practices for Datacom Facility Energy Efficiency Thomas A. Davidson, P.E., Member, DLB Associates Consulting Engineers, Ocean, NJ 3. Overview of Upcoming ASHRAE Publication: Contamination in Datacom Facilities Joe Prisco, IBM Corp., Poughkeepsie, NY

The following was presented at the 2007 Summer Meeting in Long Beach, CA:

Transactions Session 6 (Intermediate) Wednesday, June 27, 2007 8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. Room: 201 B

High Density Cooling Update Sponsor: TC 09.09 Mission Critical Facilities, Technology Spaces and Electronic Equipment Chair: Jeffrey P. Rutt, P.E., Member, U.S. Department of Defense, Ft. Meade, MD Cooling of high-density electronic equipment installations such as data centers and telecommunication facilities, are addressed. Power densities of 1000 watts per square meter (93 watts per square foot) or higher are increasingly commonplace. Issues of recent concern are provision, distribution and control of adequate airflow, the possibility of a return to liquid cooling, and transitional technologies for cooling. 1. Perforated Tile Flow Distribution in Close Proximity to Computer Room Air Conditioning Units (LB-07-014) Jeffrey Rambo, Ph.D., Graham Nelson and Yogendra Joshi, Ph.D., Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 2. Liquid Cooling Architectures for High Availability Systems (LB-07-015) Michael J. Ellsworth, Jr., P.E., Roger R. Schmidt, Ph.D., P.E., Member, Prabjit Singh and Richard C. Chu, IBM Corp., Poughkeepsie, NY

Seminar 69 (Intermediate) Wednesday, June 27, 2007 9:15 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. Room: 201 B

Utilizing Economizers in a Data Center Sponsor: TC 09.09 Mission Critical Facilities, Technology Spaces and Electronic Equipment Chair: Fred Stack, Associate, Emerson Network Power / Liebert, Columbus, OH Increasing energy costs are challenging engineers to find the most cost effective ways to control temperature and humidity within a mission criti-cal data center environment. This seminar discusses two types of economizer systems—air-side and fluid-based. The wider recommended operat-ing conditions defined in ASHRAE’s Thermal Guidelines for Data Processing Environments has created the opportunity for significant energy sav-ings. The operation of various types of economizers is discussed and guidelines provided on where they are most effective. 1. Full Time Air Economizer Jeff Sloan, P.E., McKinstry, Seattle, WA 2. Air Versus Fluid Economizer Ron Spangler, P.E., Associate, Emerson Network Power / Liebert, Columbus, OH 3. Adiabatic Economizers Mike Scofield, P.E., Associate, Conservation Mechanical Systems, CA

Seminar 71 (Intermediate) Wednesday, June 27, 2007 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. Room: 201 B

Energy-Efficient Controls For Data Centers Sponsor: TC 09.09 Mission Critical Facilities, Technology Spaces and Electronic Equipment Chair: Christian Belady, Member, Distinguished Techno, Hewlett-Packard Company, Richardson, TX Data centers consume vast quantities of energy, greater than typical office buildings on a square foot basis. Traditionally the focus of data center controls has been reliability. As a result, some manufactured computer room air-conditioning units have no thermostatic or humidistatic dead bands, and most data centers are served by constant volume fans. This seminar presents control schemes that can be used to greatly reduce the power consumption of the HVAC systems while maintaining or improving reliability required by data center owners. Application of such strategies has drastically reduced data center energy as much as 80%. 1. Moving to Supply Air Temperature Control from Conventional Return Air Control in CRACs in a Data Center Mukesh Khattar, Ph.D., Member, Oracle Corporation, Redwood Shores, CA 2. Dynamic Fan Management Energy Savings for Row Level Cooling John Bean, Member, American Power Conversion, O’Fallon, MO

Seminar 74 (Intermediate) Wednesday, June 27, 2007 12:15 p.m. – 1:45 p.m. Room: 201 B

Electronics Cooling: Techniques and Applications Sponsor: TC 01.03 Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow; TC 09.09 Mission Critical Facilities, Technology Spaces and Electronic Equipment Chair: Don Beaty, P.E., Member, DLB Associates, Wanamassa, NJ Current commercial electronic devices generate waste heat at a rate of 2 million watts per square meter or greater, and the forecast is for this level to continue to increase into the foreseeable future. This seminar presents recent work on high flux thermal management solutions from the device scale to the data center. 1. Compact Impingement Cooling Systems for Electronics Thermal Management Timothy A. Shedd, Ph.D., Member, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 2. An Innovative Liquid Cooling Heat Exchanger for Cooling of Chips with Various Height and Power Density Michael M. Ohadi, Ph.D., FASHRAE, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 3. Effect of Jet Arrays and Structured Surfaces on Two-phase Impingement Heat Transfer James E. Bryan, Ph.D., Member, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 4. Total System Power Reduction Through the use of Refrigeration for Thermal Management David Copeland, Ph.D., Member, Sun Microsystems, Sunnyvale, CA

The following was presented at the 2004 Summer Meeting in Nashville:

Symposium NA-04-04 Monday, June 28, 2004 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM

High Density Cooling Issues Update June 2004 Sponsor: TC 09.09 Mission Critical Facilities, Technology Spaces and Electronic Equipment Chair: David Copeland, Dr.Eng., Fujitsu Laboratories of America, Sunnyvale, CA

This symposium addresses cooling of high density electronic equipment installations such as data centers, telecommunication facilities, and combinations thereof. Power densities of 1000 watts per square meter (93 watts per square foot) or higher are increasingly commonplace. Issues of recent concern are provision, distribution and control of adequate airflow, the possibility of a return to liquid cooling, and transitional technologies for cooling.

1. Distribution of Cooling Airflow in a Raised-Floor Data Center Suhas V. Patankar, Ph.D. and Kailash C. Karki, Innovative Research, Plymouth, MN

2. Thermal Profile of a High Density Data Center Roger Schmidt, Ph.D., Member, IBM Corporation, Poughkeepsie, NY

3. Liquid Cooling of Electronic Equipment: Friend or Foe Don Beaty, P.E., Member, DLB Associates Consulting Engineers, Ocean, NJ

Seminar 45 Wednesday, June 30, 2004 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM

Design Considerations to Limit Dispersion of Immediately Harmful Contaminants in Large Buildings and Enclosed Vehicular Facilities Co-Sponsor with: TC 05.09 Enclosed Vehicular Facilities; TC 05.06 Control of Fire and Smoke; TC 09.09 Mission Critical Facilities,Technology Spaces and Electronic Equipment Chair: Paul C. Miclea, P.E., Member, Earth Tech, Inc., Oakland, CA

There is concern for criminal acts of discharging harmful contaminants in large buildings and transit systems to create panic or harm the occupants. Ventilation systems in such facilities have not been designed to address these cases and therefore there is no criteria to prevent the dispersion of harmful contaminants and minimize the risk to occupants. This seminar is recommended to generate ideas for future consideration for the design of new facilities and the best approach to managing risks. Specific options under consideration by Washington Metro and other agencies will be discussed along with the applicable engineering tools.

1. Protection of Washington Metro Stations from Tunnel Fire Smoke with Jet Fans Ventilation System Igor Maevski, Ph.D., P.E., Member, Jacobs Engineering, New York, NY

2. Dispersion Characteristics of Aerosol Contaminants in Underground Facilities Greg Sanchez, P.E., Member, New York City Transit, New York, NY

3. Can We Limit the Access of CB Substances in Enclosed Transit Facilities? Kirk McDaniel, P.E., Member, Earth Tech, Inc., Oakland, CA

4. Importance of Emergency Preparedness and Evacuation Drills Barney Smits, P.E., Associate, BART - San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit, Oakland, CA

5. Practical Means to Isolate the Station from the Tunnels in Case of a CBR Event Paul C. Miclea, P.E., Member, Earth Tech, Inc., Oakland, CA

Seminar 46 Wednesday, June 30, 2004 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM

Emergency Cooling of Essential Facilities with Thermal Energy Storage Co-Sponsor with: TC 06.09 Thermal Storage; TC 09.09 Mission Critical Facilities, Technology Spaces and Electronic Equipment Chair: Brian M. Silvetti, P.E., Member, Calmac Manufacturing Corp., Englewwod, NJ

More commonly used for operating cost and energy savings, the minimal energy required to discharge thermal storage systems makes them ideal candidates for emergency cooling in the event of power failure. Critical design and cost issues such as chiller reset and recovery times, backup power requirements and integration concerns are discussed. The actual experience of owner/operators under emergency conditions are summarized, specific installations described and the potential for TES as emergency capacity assessed.

1. Use of Stratified Thermal Storage as Emergency Cooling Capacity William P. Bahnfleth, Ph.D., P.E., Member, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA

2. Application Decisions and Implementation of TES for Mission Critical Facilities David C. Tootle, P.E., Member, EYP Mission Critical Facilities, Inc., Washington, D.C.

3. Emergency Back-up Cooling for a Data Center Amy Wortman, Member, Baltimore Aircoil Company, Baltimore, MD

Past Programs

The following were presented at the 2004 Winter Meeting in Anaheim:

Symposium AN-04-09 Tuesday, January 27, 8 AM - 10 AM, Room:

High Density Electronic Equipment Facility Cooling Sponsor: TC 09.09 Mission Critical Facilities, Technology Spaces and Electronic Equipment Chair: Donald L. Beaty, P.E., Member, DLB Associates Consulting Engineers, Ocean, NJ

This symposium introduces attendees to the thermal guidelines that have evolved from TC 9.9, Mission Critical Facilities, Technology Spaces and Electronic Equipment. The committee's work deals with the cooling of facilities designed to house electronic equipment, such as data centers and telecommunications central offices. The power density of equipment in these facilities continues to increase, often exceeding 100 watts per square foot of floor space.

1. Evolution of Data Center Environmental Guidelines Alan Classen, IBM Corp.; Tom Davidson, DLB Associates; Magnus Herrlin, Consultant; Shlomo Novotny, Sun Microsystems; Rebecca Perry, Sun Microsystems; Roger R. Schmidt, Ph.D., Member, IBM Corp., Poughkeepsie, NY

2. The Thermal Bus System: An Integrated Thermal Architecture for Thermal Management of High Power Electronics Michael J. Wilson, Ph.D., Associate and Wattelet, Ph.D., Modine Manufacturing Co., Racine, WI; Kevin Wert, Ph.D., Thermacore International Inc., Lancaster, PA

3. Cooling of High Density Rooms: Today and in the Future Lennart Ståhl, Member, Liebert Corp., Richardson, TX

4. Efficient Thermal Management of Data Centers - Immediate and Long-Term Research Needs Cullen E. Bash, Associate Member, Chandrakant D. Patel, Member, and Ratnesh K. Sharma, Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, Palo Alto, CA

Forum 23 Tuesday, January 27, 11:15 AM - 12:05 AM, Room:

Mission Critical Data Center Design and Applications: What Are Today's Real-World Problems and How Do You Deal with Them? Sponsor: TC 09.09 Mission Critical Facilities, Technology Spaces and Electronic Equipment Moderator: Donald L. Beaty, P.E., Member, DLB Associates Consulting Engineers, Ocean, NJ

Power densities in facilities supporting technology equipment have been increasing and are often one to two orders of magnitude above typical facility design loads. Equipment footprints are decreasing. Room cooling strategies of the past are reaching their limits in cooling these environments. This forum allows building owners, end-users, engineers, contractors and researchers to discuss the issues involved in data center design and provide direction to TC 9.9 for future research and programs. Discussion items include raised vs. slab floors, high-density equipment cabinets, hot spots, maintenance/service, temperature and humidity conditions, contamination, liquid cooling, and monitoring and controls.

The following were presented at the 2003 Summer Meeting in Kansas City:

Seminar 1 Sunday, June 29, 8 AM - 10 AM, Room: Chicago A

Data Center and Telecommunication Room Cooling of High Density Heat Loads Sponsor: TG9.HDEC High Density Electronic Equipment Facility Cooling Chair: Donald L. Beaty, P.E., Member, DLB Associates Consulting Engineers, Ocean, NJ

The heat rejection requirements of equipment installed in data centers and telecommunications facilities are changing dramatically. This seminar focuses on the fundamental knowledge required for the design of facilities with the potential for high heat loads (>100 watts per square foot).

1. GR-3028-CORE: Thermal Management in Telecommunications Central Magnus Herrlin, Ph.D, Member

2. Data Center Environmental Requirements Roger Schmidt, Ph. D, Member, IBM Corp.

3. Data Center Air Cooling Guidelines Christian Belady, P.E., Member, Hewlett Packard

4. Best Practices in Data Center and Telecom Room Design Donald L. Beaty, P.E., Member, DLB Associates Consulting Engineers

The following were presented at the 2001 Summer Meeting in Cincinnati:

Seminar 26 Monday, June 25, 10:15 AM - 12:15 PM, Room: 242

Internet Hotels/Data Centers: Opportunities and Challenges of the New Economy Sponsor: TC 1.9 Electrical Systems; TC 4.1 Load Calculation Data and Procedures Chair: Michael P Kuk, Member, ComEd, Oak Brook, IL

The emergence of the high-tech economy is presenting new opportunities and challenges to engineers, as well as the nation's energy companies. "Internet Hotels/Data Centers" are 200,000-100,000 ft2 buildings with "wall to wall" computer equipment. This seminar discusses the issues, opportunities, and challenges involved with this unique and rapidly growing industry class. This seminar gives a customers/owners/engineers perceptive of the issues. Presentations cover new data detailing the trends on loads in computer rooms and their infrastructure need, the multiple (and often unique) engineering/design challenges involved, and the experiences of experts in the industry.

1. A Customer/Owners Perspective Nat Tafuri, Broom Field, CO

2. Accurately Estimating Building Loads  Chris Wilkins, P.E., Member, Hallam Associates, South Burlington, VT

3. Engineering/Design Challenges Donald L. Beaty, P.E., Member, DLB Associates, Wanamassa, NJ

ASHRAE TC9.9 Research Priorities

The research priority list was developed in 2008 and is updated each year following the ASHRAE annual meeting.  The committee has one work statement (1499) in process now: ‘The Effect of Humidity on Static Electricity Induced Reliability Issues of ICT Equipment in Data Centers’.  An RTAR is under development addressing gaseous contamination in data centers.  Both of these research topics align with the highest priority topic in the priority list.

TC9.9 Research Priorities:  Sub-items highlighted in bold red are the TC’s consensus highest priority items at this time. Other listed subtopics are areas of interest with lower priority.

  1. Energy consumption effects driven by the thermal guidelines (e.g. humidity and inlet temperature)
    • Expansion of the thermal guidelines – energy consumption impact
    • Reliability impact of expanding the RH/room temp – recommended and allowed 
  2. Cooling proof of concepts
    • Adaptation of data centers for multi-mode cooling – liquid, air, multiphase
    • Removing barriers to liquid cooling
    • Rating methods, free cooling techniques, metrics for comparison Metrics – (true) inlet air temperature, flow rate, total heat load, etc.
    • Optimal cooling implementations for ITE equipment based on power saving
    • RAS impacts of various cooling implementations at data center level
    • Optimal integration of data center cooling with ITE cooling 
  3. Uniformity/specification in real-time data reporting between ITE and data center management
    • Metrics – (true) inlet air temperature, flow rate, total heat load, etc.
    • Standardized protocols for data reporting
    • Power saving modes for ITE and integration with data center management
    • Optimization of data center cooling parameters for power-saving ITE operation – flow and inlet temperatures, workload
    • Algorithms for managing varying ITE demand 
  4. Airflow Management
    • Practical achievements for fan to server flow ratios 
    • Influences of aisle containment
    • Blank-off plates and containment of cable penetrations 
    • Selection of floor diffusers 
  5. Matching of ΔT’s between ITE and cooling equipment in common configurations
    • Avoiding hot spots when shutting off cooling units
  6. Ride-through when losing a chiller – guidelines and sizing for typical configurations
  7. Guideline for floor diffusers for cold aisles — Placement of cold aisle diffusers and optimization using adjustable diffusers 
  8. Integration of telecom equipment within a data center
    • Considerations for side-to-side-cooled ITE  
    • Mixed front-to-back/top and side-to-side equipment

For more information, please email TC 9.9 Research Subcommittee Chairperson, Robin Steinbrecher at robin.steinbrecher@intel.com.

A common use of the ASHRAE Handbooks is for recent engineering graduates and others entering the field. Another common use is for those active and experienced in the HVAC industry but with minimal experience about a particular application, system, etc.

The 2003 version of Chapter 17 of the Applications Handbook, titled "DATA PROCESSING AND ELECTRONIC OFFICE AREAS", no longer represents common practice nor does it meet the current reader's needs.

TC 9.9 rewrote the chapter even though it was not scheduled for rewrite (4 year republish cycle, 2003, 2007, etc.). We published a statement in ASHRAE Insights identifying that the 2003 version of Chapter 17 should be used with caution, as some of the information is either outdated or incorrect. 

TC 9.9, Mission Critical Facilities, Technology Spaces, & Electronic Equipment, is now responsible for Applications Handbook Chapter 17 ("Data Processing and Electronic Office Areas"). The datacom (data centers and communication) industry continues to experience significant change warranting a rewrite of the chapter. TC 9.9 has already approved the 2007 update and submitted it to ASHRAE.

In January, 2004 ASHRAE published "Thermal Guidelines for Data Processing Environments". This document includes chapters titled "Equipment Environmental Specifications", "Facility Temperature and Humidity Measurement", "Equipment Placement and Airflow Patterns", and "Equipment Manufacturer's Heat and Airflow Reporting". This document is the most current information published by ASHRAE on the topic of Data Processing Environments and should be used as a primary source of information for data processing environments.

Other recent ASHRAE sources of information regarding the datacom industry can be found in:

Winter 2004 Symposium - High Density Electronic Equipment Facility Cooling

  • Session 1 - Evolution of Data Center Environmental Guidelines
  • Session 2 - The Thermal Bus System
  • Session 3 - Cooling of High Density Rooms: Today & in the Future
  • Session 4 - Efficient Thermal Management of Data Centers

Summer 2004 Symposium - High Density Cooling Issues Update - June 2004

  • Session 1 - Thermal Profile of a High Density Data Center
  • Session 2 - Distribution of Cooling Airflow in a Raised-Floor Data Center
  • Session 3 - Liquid Cooling - Friend or Foe?

Winter 2005 Symposium - High Density Cooling Issues Update - January 2005

  • Session 1 - Thermal Roadmap for Telecom Equipment
  • Session 2 - High Density Cooling of Data Centers and Telecom Facilities: Part 1
  • Session 3 - High Density Cooling of Data Centers and Telecom Facilities: Part 2
  • Session 4 - Reliability Engineering for High Density Cooling Systems

The recent popularity of blade servers and other high-density loads is creating significant cooling challenges. TC 9.9 is actively working on high density cooling as well as other timely topics important to the datacom industry. Some of the other topics include liquid cooling, raised floor fluid dynamics, and load trends.

There are basic guidelines for how much should be changed in a chapter update as well as avoiding major increase in the number of pages. The current Chapter 17 is 6 printed pages and 5,000 words. The draft we have submitted to ASHRAE is 15,000 words, or about 3 times the current size. This is well beyond what ASHRAE recommends but TC 9.9 felt the effectiveness of the chapter could not be accomplished with less.

The revised chapter was initially written by various task groups and individuals. When fully assembled, it initially far exceeded the ASHRAE guidelines. As the Chapter was trimmed to the size for submittal to ASHRAE, most of the trimmed sections are being added to a new Special Publication that TC9.9 is currently editing - Book 3 (Book 1 - Thermal Guidelines & Book 2 - Power Trends). The combination of unused material from the new Handbook Chapter 17 draft combined with unused portions of the material written by the Thermal Management Consortium and initial drafts of the first two books are creating the base content for Book 3. Book 3 is essentially a General Purpose or Basic Book on "Design Considerations for Datacom Facilities".

Standards for which we are cognizant:

ASHRAE Thermal Guidelines for Data Processing Environments:

Overview:

This document is the first major product developed by ASHRAE TC 9.9 and is the culmination of 3 years of work by over 30 firms.

It provides equipment manufacturers and facility operations personnel with a common set of guidelines for environmental conditions, including:

  • Standardized operating environments for equipment.

  • A common environmental interface for the equipment and its surroundings.

  • Guidance on how to evaluate and test the operational health of the data center.

  • A methodology for reporting the environmental characteristics of a computer system.

Essentially, the focus of this guideline is on electronic equipment and its interaction with its environment. Since it had an equipment focus, participants in this document included a very strong representation from the major equipment manufacturers.

Purpose:

Proposed ANSI/ASHRAE 127 Standard Update

SPC 127  A committee is being formed to review the standard to insure the standard conforms to the temperature conditions needed for computers and data processing equipment and to review how the standard can be refocused on operating requirements found in a Data Center. These include the need to focus on unit sensible cooling capacities and efficiencies as well as expanding it to include methods of evaluating annual energy use in addition to peak energy use under various outdoor temperature conditions.