A confidential information storage firm had a vision to tap into the natural resources surrounding the underground site where it had plans to construct a new high security data center. Needing an Uptime Certified organization that was innovative enough to tailor a facility and usher that vision into reality, they turned to Glumac, who provided full mechanical, electrical, and plumbing design on the project. The resulting data center suites were designed to Tier II and Tier III infrastructures at an average load density of 4.5 kW per rack with a maximum load density of 10kW per rack.

The series of data center suites were constructed within a flooded subterranean limestone mine, which features water with an earth temperature of around 52 degrees. Glumac designed a mechanical geothermal cooling system that draws this water and uses it to provide chilled air for the fans that cool the server racks. The water that is heated during this process is then flushed back out to the mine and naturally re-cooled and eventually reused. This process allows the data center to save on energy by not needing to manually generate cool air, and negates the need to draw on outside sources for water to chill. Additionally, due to the subterranean positioning of the data centers, the generators also needed to be placed underground. To solve the resulting exhaust issues, 200-foot exhaust stacks were dug into the ground at a 4-foot diameter to create room for exhaust stacks. Cool air is vented up through the stacks, as well, to prevent overheating. A centralized fuel storage system located above ground feeds the generators below.

The data center is anticipated to achieve a PUI of 1.15.

Size: PH1 – 4.5 MW; PH 2 12MW
Cost: PH1 – $18 million; PH2 – $11.5 million
Start/Completion: 2014/2015
Architect: Callison
Contractor: PH1 – Tenant A: Etzel; PH1 and PH2 – Turner Construction