Global Switch Data Centre, Sydney West and East, Australia
Aurecon delivers building engineering services for some of Global Switch's largest mega data centres, designing for maintainability, reliability and efficiency.
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Rapid economic growth in Hong Kong during the past decade has provided the ideal impetus for the construction of Global Switch’s first data centre in Hong Kong, located in the Tseung Kwan O INNOPARK.
Working in close collaboration with partner Gammon Construction Limited, Aurecon delivered mechanical, electrical, plumbing (MEP) and fire protection engineering as well as security, ICT and acoustic services for the construction of the world-class, largest carrier and cloud neutral data centre for Global Switch. Technical support during construction and commissioning was also provided.
With continuous growth in the data centre market in the region, the 100 MVA data centre with 70,000 m 2 of infrastructure services is an important resource for local and international customers in the banking, financial services, insurance, telecommunications and multimedia sectors as they face increasing demand for cloud and IT services.
Energy efficiency, quality and speed to market were critical for Global Switch to achieve financial success when developing Global Switch Hong Kong (GSHK). Global Switch selected design-and-build as a fast track delivery model.
Project staging and phasing were adopted to allow fast and progressive customer occupation. All equipment, use of space and construction methodology was standardised to facilitate the design process and meet the construction demands.
To meet Global Switch’s requirements and expectations, Aurecon collaborated with Gammon and other project stakeholders closely throughout the project.
Speed was critical as Global Switch updated its brief for Stage 2, which saw an increase in the plot ratio and therefore the opportunity to increase the amount of technical space that could be developed, resulting in requirements for additional power at the data centre.
Aurecon worked closely with the Gammon’s technical and project management team, the project architect and structural engineer over an eight-week period to identify constraints, resolve design challenges and develop a completely new design concept.
Accommodation site owners are encouraged to start planning for how to install charging stations, the required electricity infrastructure, and how to adapt their business model to incorporate this change in operation.
Combining the experience of South Australia’s electricity network with knowledge of future energy systems, Aurecon contributed to a set of considerations for accommodation venues to begin their preparations for a future with electric vehicles.
The guide outlines an approach to forecasting charging patterns over the next 5, 10 and 15 years to provide a picture of the growth in the electric vehicle market and corresponding demand on chargers.
It also identifies which core decisions business owners will need to make, such as how they will charge their guests, strategies for managing tariffs such as shifting the charging to overnight (off-peak electricity rates and limiting maximum demand), and what they need to change on their site to accommodate electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
This assists businesses to begin thinking about the impact on their operational model, and how to start preparing the infrastructure, control systems and managing tariff choices for electric vehicle charging.
A key challenge for the team was to optimise the overall energy consumption of the completed data centre. To address this, Aurecon’s designers implemented energy-saving features such as partial and full waterside free cooling, and an elevated chilled water temperature with 17°C supply temperature and 25°C return temperature configuration.
Aurecon’s data centre experience in Singapore and Sydney, combined with our specialist technical know-how was leveraged for the project. This allowed the team to display its strong hands-on experience in the use of DRUPS with IP configuration. This meant Aurecon was able to advise and assist with final equipment selection, module sizing and the design of all MEP services.
GSHK was awarded a Gold rating under the Building Environmental Assessment Method (BEAM) Plus for both stages. Stage 1, in particular, achieved both the BEAM Plus certification and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum certification.
Prior to GSHK, Aurecon was engaged in Global Switch Sydney West and Global Switch Sydney East, and Global Switch Singapore Woodlands projects.
Aurecon delivers building engineering services for some of Global Switch's largest mega data centres, designing for maintainability, reliability and efficiency.
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