Any way you look at it, the data center market remains one of the healthiest sectors of the nonresidential construction industry. As the growth of cloud computing and mobile technology continues, the need for storage and computing power will expand exponentially.
Cisco predicts global data center traffic to grow threefold and reach a total of 7.7 zettabytes in annual traffic by 2017 (a zettabyte is one billion terabytes, in case you were wondering). The fastest-growing component is cloud traffic, which is expected to expand 4.5-fold from 1.2 zettabytes in 2012 to 5.3 zettabytes by 2017. In fact, by the end of 2014, cloud-based data centers will, for the first time, surpass traditional data centers in terms of total workload, says Cisco.
In its most recent forecast report (http://tinyurl.com/datacenterforecast), technology research firm TechNavio called for the global market for data center construction to register an annual compound growth rate of 21% through 2018. Much of that growth is expected to occur in the colocation facilities segment, as corporations and other data enterprises look to outsource their increasingly complex and costly—and often outdated—data center operations.
The maturation of the modular and containerized data center sector may eventually hinder the growth of traditional data center construction services, according to TechNavio analysts. As data center owners look to expand quickly and get online faster, a growing number are turning to “plug and play” and “data center in a box” solutions in lieu of site-built systems and facilities.
The technology enables faster scaling and installation, and often comes equipped with the required power and cooling solutions, as well as built-in control, monitoring, and management functions to maximize performance.
TOP DATA CENTER SECTOR ARCHITECTURE FIRMS
2013 Data Center Revenue ($)
1 Gensler $25,839,736
2 Corgan 23,560,060
3 HDR 15,150,000
4 Page 13,950,000
5 Sheehan Partners 5,666,072
6 Little 5,450,648
7 RS&H 4,900,000
8 Callison 3,940,188
9 Clark Nexsen 3,186,054
10 Environetics 2,947,119
SEE FULL LIST
TOP DATA CENTER SECTOR ENGINEERING FIRMS
2013 Data Center Revenue ($)
1 Fluor Corporation $243,370,000
2 Jacobs 47,490,000
3 Syska Hennessy Group 41,934,230
4 URS Corp. 25,100,000
5 Vanderweil Engineers 21,588,000
6 Integrated Design Group 13,574,682
7 Parsons Brinckerhoff 12,185,435
8 Environmental Systems Design 10,063,915
9 Arup 9,997,297
10 Highland Associates 8,400,000
SEE FULL LIST
TOP DATA CENTER SECTOR CONSTRUCTION FIRMS
2013 Data Center Revenue ($)
1 Holder Construction $1,124,000,000
2 Turner Construction 512,000,000
3 DPR Construction 506,001,637
4 Structure Tone 400,450,000
5 Mortenson Construction 298,590,000
6 Gilbane 241,967,522
7 Balfour Beatty US 202,427,241
8 Hensel Phelps 177,120,000
9 Hoffman Construction 168,000,000
10 HITT Contracting 136,900,000
SEE FULL LIST
Cisco, Dell, and Huawei are among the hardware manufacturers offering modular and containerized solutions, and are no doubt taking market share from AEC firms, including many of the Giants 300 firms.
Giants 300 coverage of Data Centers is brought to you by Siemens http://w3.usa.siemens.com
Of the 364 AEC firms that completed the BD+C Giants 300 survey, more than a third (36%) reported at least some revenue from data center work in 2013. Thirty-four firms said that at least 10% of their total revenue in 2013 was derived from the data center construction market, and 11 firms relied on the sector for more than a quarter of their business.
Growth of Green
Stricter energy regulations and the rising cost of operating data facilities continue to drive demand for highly energy-efficient spaces. TechNavio expects the construction market for green data centers to grow at an annual rate of 31% between 2013 and 2018.
“The growing concern over reducing the computing costs for companies and data center facilities leads to the adoption of solutions such as natural air cooling and precision data center cooling,” said Faisal Ghaus, Vice President of TechNavio.
Facebook’s prefab concept aims to slash construction time in half
Less than a year after opening its ultra-green, hydropowered data center facility in Luleå, Sweden, Facebook is back at it in Mother Svea with yet another novel approach to data center design. In May, the tech giant broke ground on an expansion to its Luleå facility, which is rated as one of the most energy-efficient data centers in the world, with an average power usage effectiveness (PUE) of 1.05.
With Luleå 2, the company expects to achieve the same energy performance, but with a construction and deployment schedule that is roughly half its typical data center project. To do so, the Building Team is implementing Facebook’s newly developed Rapid Deployment Data Center (RDDC) concept, which utilizes modular and Lean design principles to streamline planning and construction, reduce the amount of materials, and create facilities that are more site-agnostic, according to Marco Magarelli, AIA, Architect, Datacenter R&D with Facebook.
“By deploying pre-manufactured assemblies, a majority of the components can be used interchangeably,” wrote Magarelli in a recent blog post on the RDDC concept. “It’s our hope that by standardizing the designs of our component assemblies, much like we do with OCP servers, we can deploy a unitized data center into almost any region in the world faster, leaner, and more cost effectively.”
Developed through the Facebook-initiated Open Compute Project, which aims to crowdsource data center design, the RDDC approach relies on two core prefab concepts:
Chassis assembly method. Pre-assembled steel frames 12 feet wide and 40 feet long serve as the “chassis,” on which the vital data center components—cable trays, power busways, containment panels, lighting, etc.—are bolted in a factory, much like an auto assembly line.
In May, Facebook broke ground on an expansion to its data center campus in Luleå, Sweden. Using a new prefab construction process, the tech giant expects to build the new data center twice as fast as the first facility. PHOTO: FACEBOOK
The chassis are shipped to the site and mounted atop steel columns. The chassis are attached end to end to create the typical 60-foot-long cold aisle, with 10 feet of aisle space at each end. This series of connected chassis forms a “canopy,” under which the server racks reside.
“Unlike containerized solutions, which are a full volumetric approach that includes a floor, this idea focuses solely on the framework that exists above the racks, to avoid shipping the empty space that will eventually be occupied by the racks,” said Magarelli.
Flat-pack assemblies. This Ikea-like approach neatly packs the walls and ceiling panels into standard, 8-foot modules that are easily transportable to a site on a flatbed trailer without requiring special permits for wide loads. Standard building products like metal studs and preassembled, unitized containment panels are then erected on the site and are fully self-supporting.
The ceiling panels use Epicore metal deck product, which spans the 12-foot width of the cold aisle and racks. This serves the additional duty of carrying the loads of the trays, power bus, and light fixtures below it using a proprietary hanger clip for the threaded rods, according to Magarelli.
“Careful attention was paid to minimizing the number of unique components,” he wrote. “For example, 364 identical wall panels are used in each data hall.”
For more on Facebook’s Rapid Deployment Data Center method, visit: www.opencompute.org/blog/faster-leaner-smarter-better-data-centers.
Read BD+C's full 2014 Giants 300 Report
Related Stories
| Feb 11, 2011
RS Means Cost Comparison Chart: Office Buildings
This month's RS Means Cost Comparison Chart focuses on office building construction.
| Feb 11, 2011
Sustainable features on the bill for dual-building performing arts center at Soka University of America
The $73 million Soka University of America’s new performing arts center and academic complex recently opened on the school’s Aliso Viejo, Calif., campus. McCarthy Building Companies and Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects collaborated on the two-building project. One is a three-story, 47,836-sf facility with a grand reception lobby, a 1,200-seat auditorium, and supports spaces. The other is a four-story, 48,974-sf facility with 11 classrooms, 29 faculty offices, a 150-seat black box theater, rehearsal/dance studio, and support spaces. The project, which has a green roof, solar panels, operable windows, and sun-shading devices, is going for LEED Silver.
| Feb 11, 2011
BIM-enabled Texas church complex can broadcast services in high-def
After two years of design and construction, members of the Gateway Church in Southland, Texas, were able to attend services in their new 4,000-seat facility in late 2010. Located on a 180-acre site, the 205,000-sf complex has six auditoriums, including a massive 200,000-sf Worship Center, complete with catwalks, top-end audio and video system, and high-definition broadcast capabilities. BIM played a significant role in the building’s design and construction. Balfour Beatty Construction and Beck Architecture formed the nucleus of the Building Team.
| Feb 11, 2011
Kentucky’s first green adaptive reuse project earns Platinum
(FER) studio, Inglewood, Calif., converted a 115-year-old former dry goods store in Louisville, Ky., into a 10,175-sf mixed-use commercial building earned LEED Platinum and holds the distinction of being the state’s first adaptive reuse project to earn any LEED rating. The facility, located in the East Market District, houses a gallery, event space, offices, conference space, and a restaurant. Sustainable elements that helped the building reach its top LEED rating include xeriscaping, a green roof, rainwater collection and reuse, 12 geothermal wells, 81 solar panels, a 1,100-gallon ice storage system (off-grid energy efficiency is 68%) and the reuse and recycling of construction materials. Local firm Peters Construction served as GC.
| Feb 11, 2011
Former Richardson Romanesque hotel now houses books, not beds
The Piqua (Ohio) Public Library was once a late 19th-century hotel that sat vacant and deteriorating for years before a $12.3 million adaptive reuse project revitalized the 1891 building. The design team of PSA-Dewberry, MKC Associates, and historic preservation specialist Jeff Wray Associates collaborated on the restoration of the 80,000-sf Richardson Romanesque building, once known as the Fort Piqua Hotel. The team restored a mezzanine above the lobby and repaired historic windows, skylight, massive fireplace, and other historic details. The basement, with its low ceiling and stacked stone walls, was turned into a castle-like children’s center. The Piqua Historical Museum is also located within the building.
| Feb 11, 2011
Justice center on Fall River harbor serves up daylight, sustainable elements, including eucalyptus millwork
Located on historic South Main Street in Fall River, Mass., the Fall River Justice Center opened last fall to serve as the city’s Superior and District Courts building. The $85 million facility was designed by Boston-based Finegold Alexander + Associates Inc., with Dimeo Construction as CM and Arup as MEP. The 154,000-sf courthouse contains nine courtrooms, a law library, and a detention area. Most of the floors have the same ceiling height, which will makes them easier to reconfigure in the future as space needs change. Designed to achieve LEED Silver, the facility’s elliptical design offers abundant natural daylight and views of the harbor. Renewable eucalyptus millwork is one of the sustainable features.
| Feb 11, 2011
Research facility separates but also connects lab spaces
California State University, Northridge, consolidated its graduate and undergraduate biology and mathematics programs into one 90,000-sf research facility. Architect of record Cannon Design worked on the new Chaparral Hall, creating a four-story facility with two distinct spaces that separate research and teaching areas; these are linked by faculty offices to create collaborative spaces. The building houses wet research, teaching, and computational research labs, a 5,000-sf vivarium, classrooms, and administrative offices. A four-story outdoor lobby and plaza and an outdoor staircase provide orientation. A covered walkway links the new facility with the existing science complex. Saiful/Bouquet served as structural engineer, Bard, Rao + Athanas Consulting Engineers served as MEP, and Research Facilities Design was laboratory consultant.
| Feb 11, 2011
A feast of dining options at University of Colorado community center, but hold the buffalo stew
The University of Colorado, Boulder, cooked up something different with its new $84.4 million Center for Community building, whose 900-seat foodservice area consists of 12 micro-restaurants, each with its own food options and décor. Centerbrook Architects of Connecticut collaborated with Denver’s Davis Partnership Architects and foodservice designer Baker Group of Grand Rapids, Mich., on the 323,000-sf facility, which also includes space for a career center, international education, and counseling and psychological services. Exterior walls of rough-hewn, variegated sandstone and a terra cotta roof help the new facility blend with existing campus buildings. Target: LEED Gold.
| Feb 11, 2011
Chicago high-rise mixes condos with classrooms for Art Institute students
The Legacy at Millennium Park is a 72-story, mixed-use complex that rises high above Chicago’s Michigan Avenue. The glass tower, designed by Solomon Cordwell Buenz, is mostly residential, but also includes 41,000 sf of classroom space for the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and another 7,400 sf of retail space. The building’s 355 one-, two-, three-, and four-bedroom condominiums range from 875 sf to 9,300 sf, and there are seven levels of parking. Sky patios on the 15th, 42nd, and 60th floors give owners outdoor access and views of Lake Michigan.
| Feb 11, 2011
Iowa surgery center addresses both inpatient and outpatient care
The 12,000-person community of Carroll, Iowa, has a new $28 million surgery center to provide both inpatient and outpatient care. Minneapolis-based healthcare design firm Horty Elving headed up the four-story, 120,000-sf project for St. Anthony’s Regional Hospital. The center’s layout is based on a circular process flow, and includes four 800-sf operating rooms with poured rubber floors to reduce leg fatigue for surgeons and support staff, two substerile rooms between each pair of operating rooms, and two endoscopy rooms adjacent to the outpatient prep and recovery rooms. Recovery rooms are clustered in groups of four. The large family lounge (left) has expansive windows with views of the countryside, and television monitors that display coded information on patient status so loved ones can follow a patient’s progress.
