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Good neighbor. this Guiding principle
addresses the
public perception, stewardship
and the building’s site-scaping.
Cps energy was sensitive to the fact that their new
facility would be adjacent to a single-family residential
neighborhood. it was important that the facility design
respect the surrounding context in both scale and
appropriateness. heavy landscape elements were
placed between eCho and the residential area on the
north side to create an image of a park-like setting.
the service areas and equipment were evaluated and
screened to minimize acoustical concerns. the facility
itself is also set back over 100 feet from the property
line to provide a buffer zone between the
neighborhood and the building. the softer aesthetics
of the office facade (including a lower building height,
a café and an exterior courtyard) were located on the
north side facing the residential neighborhood. this
was done to provide a connection between the Cps
energy employees and the neighborhoods they serve.
4
responsible Corporate image. this Guiding
principle ensured
sustainability, marketability,
demonstrability, xeriscaping and display of
energy conservation.
leed Gold certification was a key goal for the eCho
project. to support this goal, special consideration was
given to the mechanical cooling system selected.
Multiple hvaC systems were studied to determine
which one made the most sense from both reliability
and energy efficiency standpoints.
syska’s team developed a computational fluid dynamic
model (Cfd) to find the optimal system layout to cool
the racks on the computer room floor and aid low-
voltage and Mep systems coordination. this led to the
specification of an efficient back-of-rack, refrigerant-
based cooling system. the system’s back of rack heat
extractors have variable speed fans that modulate to
control the rate of heat transfer between the air and
the refrigerant. this unique solution provides a “room
neutral” design where the discharge air is cooled back
to room temperature prior to re-entering the space.
the refrigerant to water heat exchangers were
designed to be installed outside of the critical space,
so that only the refrigerant piping and back of rack
units are located within the critical space, minimizing
the coordination needed to support all the
infrastructure. in addition, the design of the system
allows a single refrigerant pumping unit to be taken
down for maintenance while the cabinets served by
this unit can continue to operate through alternate
feeds from the adjacent pumped refrigerant row.
through energy model simulation, the selected hvaC
system results in ~13% energy savings over the
ashrae 90.1 baseline case of a packaged direct-
expansion system. this, coupled with the it
virtualization energy savings of ~39%, produces a very
energy efficient system that matches Cps energy’s
charge to minimize energy consumption and maximize
energy efficiency.
WWW.7X24EXCHANGE.ORGTHE 4 GUIDING PRINCIPLES
Typical Cabinet Placement. No raised floor and open plenum
above.