Data Centers & Mission Critical
In a data center the MEP isn't supporting the business — it is the business. We deliver power and cooling design, prepared for your engineer of record’s review, that matches redundancy topology to your real uptime target, not a default tier label, and targets the thermal envelope as rack densities climb from air to direct-to-chip liquid.
Where Downtime Isn't an Option.
Two questions drive the design: what happens when any single component or path fails, and what does each kilowatt cost to cool. We match topology — N+1, 2N, concurrently maintainable, or fault-tolerant — to the uptime the business actually needs, and design cooling to the ASHRAE envelope as racks move from air to rear-door to direct-to-chip liquid. Coordinated with your team and sealed by the licensed engineer of record on your project.
Redundancy & Reliability
Topology, distribution, and failure modes documented in the set.
- N+1, N+2, 2N, concurrently maintainable, or fault-tolerant matched to uptime target and budget
- Dual-path A/B distribution from utility service through switchgear to the rack PDU
- UPS topology with static transfer switches (STS) and distributed-redundant or block-redundant (reserve “catcher”) schemes
- Generator plant with paralleling switchgear and load-sharing controls per NFPA 110
- Single-line diagrams and failure-mode analysis that demonstrate which single points of failure the chosen topology eliminates and which remain
Rack Density & Cooling Approach
Cooling designed to the envelope as rack densities climb from air to liquid.
- CRAC/CRAH, in-row, and rear-door heat exchangers sized to actual rack density
- Hot-aisle / cold-aisle containment with supply-air temperature and humidity control
- Airside and waterside economization modeled for the local climate
- ASHRAE TC 9.9 thermal envelopes evaluated across normal, economizer, and specified design-failure modes
- Direct-to-chip liquid-cooling readiness — CDU sizing and FWS/TCS loop separation
- Chilled-water plant and pumping designed for concurrent maintainability
Power Systems & Studies
The full power-study set, built into the documents — not bolted on later.
- Load-flow, short-circuit, and selective-coordination studies, plus arc-flash studies per IEEE 1584 / NFPA 70E
- PDU/RPP and overhead busway distribution with branch-circuit monitoring for IT metering and PUE
- Grounding, bonding, and a signal-reference network designed in per TIA-942, not assumed
- Utility service, paralleling switchgear, and standby generator plant sizing
- Battery-room ventilation and protection for VRLA, plus lithium-ion ESS per NFPA 855
- Coordination with NEC Article 645 IT-room provisions and Article 708 where COPS applies
Efficiency (PUE) & Energy Code
Efficiency targeted at design and proven against the governing energy code.
- PUE targeted at design rather than discovered in operation
- ASHRAE 90.4 compliance for the data-center mechanical and electrical systems — the path the IECC has referenced since 2021 (§C403.1.2; the 2024 IECC references 90.4-2022) — with envelope, lighting and the remaining provisions still under the adopted energy code
- Mechanical Load Component (MLC) and Electrical Loss Component (ELC) calculations per ASHRAE 90.4 — annualized MLC (or design MLC where the 2021 IECC tables apply) checked against the climate-zone limits, ELC against the electrical-topology limits — documented with the permit submittal
- Economizer hours and water-use trade-offs modeled for the specific climate zone
- Cooling sized to the build-out stages defined by your EOR, to avoid stranded capacity and low part-load efficiency
- Metering points designed in for ongoing PUE and WUE tracking
Cooling Water, Fuel & Life Safety
The water, fuel, and detection systems mission-critical uptime depends on.
- Chilled-water, condenser-water, and CDU technology-cooling-system (TCS) coordination
- Make-up water and vendor water-treatment coordination for evaporative and economizer plants
- Leak-detection routing under raised floor, at CRAHs, and along liquid-cooling manifolds
- On-site fuel storage, day tanks, and generator fuel-polishing coordination
- Air-sampling smoke detection (VESDA-type), with clean-agent suppression (NFPA 2001) coordinated with the fire-protection engineer under the NFPA 75 IT-equipment strategy
- Sequences of operation written so the commissioning agent can test against a documented target
Expansion Design
Expansion designed from your record drawings and load data.
- Capacity and headroom review of the existing UPS, switchgear, and cooling from the owner's record drawings and load data before new load is committed
- Future-capacity stubs, taps and valves documented from your EOR's approved build-out criteria for new or unoccupied space; construction phasing and shutdown planning by others
- Updated single-lines, load schedules, and sequences of operation prepared for each design phase defined by your EOR
Whatever your uptime target actually requires. We match topology to the business need and budget — N+1, N+2, 2N, concurrently maintainable, or fault-tolerant — rather than defaulting to a tier label. We model the failure modes on the single-line and document the basis so the licensed engineer of record on your project can review it quickly.
Yes. We design to ASHRAE TC 9.9 thermal envelopes with containment, in-row units, and rear-door heat exchangers where air still works, and design direct-to-chip liquid-cooling readiness — CDU sizing and FWS/TCS loop separation — once rack densities pass what air can carry. We coordinate the technology-cooling loop with the facility chilled-water plant so the hall can accommodate the agreed future liquid-cooling loads.
Yes — load-flow, short-circuit, and selective-coordination studies, plus arc-flash studies per IEEE 1584 and NFPA 70E, are built into the construction documents, with grounding, bonding, and the signal-reference network designed in per TIA-942. They are part of the set, not a separate after-the-fact deliverable, and they come with preliminary label data (updated to the approved equipment and settings before labeling) and the coordination basis the stamping engineer needs.
Yes. We write sequences of operation the commissioning agent can test against — utility-loss transfer, generator paralleling, cooling failover, and economizer changeover — so integrated systems testing (IST) has a documented target instead of tribal knowledge.
TIA-942-C and Uptime Institute Tier topologies for infrastructure and redundancy, ASHRAE TC 9.9 Thermal Guidelines for thermal and ASHRAE 90.4 for energy (IECC C403.1.2 has required its Sections 6 and 8 for data centers since the 2021 edition), NEC Article 645 where its IT-room provisions are applied with Article 708 where critical operations power applies, NFPA 75/76 for IT and telecom fire protection, NFPA 110 where generators serve emergency or legally required standby loads, and NFPA 855 for lithium-ion energy storage. We confirm each AHJ's adopted editions up front so the submittal matches what that reviewer is enforcing.
Yes, as remote design support. We size the expansion from the owner's record drawings and load and capacity data for the existing UPS, switchgear, and cooling, and we document future-capacity stubs, taps and valves for the planned next phase from your EOR's approved build-out criteria. Site surveys, cutover sequencing, shutdown planning, and methods of procedure are by others. The licensed engineer of record on your project reviews and seals the set.