The Advancing Data Center Construction 2023 conference is underway this week in Kansas City, Missouri, focusing on the issues and challenges facing that industry. This includes the environmental impact of data centers as the demand for cloud storage and connectivity continues to grow. (Learn more about data center sustainability.)
Consulting-Specifying Engineer (CSE) magazine recently convened a panel of industry experts to discuss current trends pushing the engineered systems of data centers in different directions.
ESD Senior Project Engineer Ben Olejniczak joined five other data center professionals to discuss “Trends, changes in data center design,” published in the May/June 2022 issue of CSE magazine. The group explored current trends, the impact of increased cloud-based storage, as well as some of the codes, standards, and guidelines commonly consulted in the project design process.
Olejniczak says the biggest trend he sees right now is a push to integrate construction as part of a facility’s design process. He says, “Traditionally, the construction team would not get involved in a project until the design was completed, the project was bid, and the contract was awarded.” Olejniczak says many hyperscale clients today have enough experience with the construction of data centers that relationships with general contractors and mechanical contractors have already been established to make them trusted partners from the start.
Liquid-cooled server technology is another trend Olejniczak expects to see grow in the future. He says this will result from the continued evolution of the internet and an increased demand for artificial intelligence and virtual reality/augmented reality capabilities that require more power.
Sharing his professional knowledge and technical expertise freely with other industry colleagues is one of the ways Ben Olejniczak works to further ESD’s mission to improve society through the built environment.
To learn more about how ESD supports the data center market, visit our website. Or contact us directly to find out how we can help your organization with data center design and services.
