‘Effectiveness’ is the ability of a design to deliver the required rehabilitative outcome, while ‘efficiency’ is the total whole life cost required to achieve this outcome..
In hot, dry climates, using adiabatic cooling which cools towards the wet bulb temperature which is often much lower than the dry bulb temperature, can further reduce the number of hours of mechanical cooling required.The balance between reducing energy / water consumption as part of the design is investigated as part of each project design.. Water usage.
A growing challenge for data centre providers is water availability.Data centres utilising evaporative cooling systems need a consistent water supply for process cooling and obtaining this can be increasingly difficult in some regions.Water stress levels (calculated by UN-Water) are low for European regions but there is much higher stress in North Africa and Asia, which may lead to fewer data centres obtaining water for process cooling.. Space efficiency of heat rejection plant.
The external heat rejection unit size is typically based on the required heat rejection capacity and approach temperature (external air inlet temperature vs CHW/air outlet temperature).Generally, the heat rejection plant is located as close to the data halls as possible, however, where there is a drive towards higher density data centres the typical space for external heat rejection may be limited.
To achieve an increased heat rejection capacity in limited space, the approach temperature of the unit may have increase (leading to an increase in the mechanical cooling hours annually).. Based on previous Bryden Wood data centre projects, we have plotted heat rejection plant properties based on their heat rejection capacity (kW/m.
vs approach temperature(K)..Furthermore, to construct a building that has been designed using DfMA the builder needs to understand the basis of the design and how it has informed the construction approach.
This means DfMA can be much more collaborative than conventional design, bringing the designer and builder closer together to pursue a common goal..There are many different methods of constructing a building.
In addition to conventional methods, alternatives have been developed that deploy prefabrication, pre-assembly, design standardisation and/or automation to some degree and these are collectively referred to as Modern Methods of Construction (MMC)..Exploring the MMC toolkit: from offsite construction to PPVC and beyond.