A typical data center uses about as much energy for cooling as it does to power the servers. Some data centers however use significantly less. Google generally uses only about 20% of the cooling energy that a typical data center does.  

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The International Code Council (ICC) was established in 1994 as a non-profit organization dedicated to developing a single set of broad and coordinated national construction codes. The three founders of the ICC are Building Officials and Code Administrators International, Inc. (BOCA), International Conference of Building Officials (ICBO), and Southern Building Code Congress International, Inc. (SBCCI). Because construction codes varied too much from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, there was a need to make all jurisdictional codes similar for the safety of the public. So, the nation’s three code groups created the International Code Council and the International Codes or I-Codes without regional limitations. 

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One of the most precious natural resources for human survival is fresh water. Here in the United States, it is assumed that cities, municipalities, counties and special districts within our governing agencies will provide clean fresh water to the citizens residing in these places. We consume fresh water for several uses such as drinking, washing and commercial or industrial purposes. It is our duty as educated citizens, neighbors and engineers to protect this valuable resource as much as possible. One way to protect our fresh water system is to provide backflow prevention devices in our commercial and residential buildings. 

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With advances in technology, servers are becoming faster and more powerful. They are also generating significantly more heat. Server equipment is designed to operate within a specific temperature range and staying within this range will ensure reliable operation and extend the life of the equipment. On the other hand, exceeding these limits could lead to catastrophic server failure which can cost companies in equipment replacement, lost time, lost data and lost business.  

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As the demand for efficiency and LEED compliance in design increases, the importance of reducing initial construction costs continues to rise.  The use of reclaimed water systems can provide clients with large irrigation or industrial process water requirements with an opportunity to qualify for LEED points under credits WE1 and WE2.  In addition, reclaimed water systems can reduce domestic water tap fees, reduce ongoing operating costs and diminish impacts to municipal drinking water systems and the environment. 

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It is now coming up on the time of year where several local jurisdictions will officially adopt the 2011 edition of the National Electrical Code (NEC).  The City and County of Denver typically adopts the new NEC code anywhere from August to October of the year the new code is published.  Many of the other larger local jurisdictions usually follow suit, either officially adopting the code around the same time frame or soon thereafter. 

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Who:  The Energy Star Program is a joint program between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy.   

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Electrical peak load management is a reduction of electrical energy demand in a facility during the electrical utility’s highest generation period.  Electrical peak load management strategies may be implemented independently or in association with the electrical utility company.

There are two major components in a facility’s electrical consumption bill.   They are usually termed as the “demand charge” and the “energy consumption charge”.  The demand charges are reset on a monthly basis and are calculated on the highest rate at which electricity is consumed during the periods that are peak utility service hours. Demand charges are measured in kilowatts (kW) and the highest consumption rate (kW-h) is measured in 15- or 30-minute intervals during peak hours.  Demand charges are a large portion of a facility’s monthly electric bill.  Peak load management can result in significant cost savings, especially for commercial, industrial and institutional clients. 

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In today’s construction industry the need to design and build energy efficient buildings has never been higher.  With commercial buildings being one of the largest consumers of energy in the United States, architects and engineers alike are always looking for better ways to make buildings more energy efficient.  One way to make the mechanical systems within buildings more energy efficient is to use variable frequency drives (VFD) to control motor speed.  This technology can be applied to both water side mechanical systems (pumps, chillers, cooling tower fans, etc.) and air side mechanical systems (supply/return fan motors in air handlers, exhaust fan motors, etc.).  For the purpose of this article we will be examining the application of a VFD as it relates to pumping in chilled water and heating water systems.  A majority of the concepts discussed below are directly related to the air side equipment mentioned above.
 

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To size an electrical room, one must research the following:

·         Single or Multiple Utility Meter Configuration:

o     An electrical gear rated up to 800 amperes may require a minimum of eight (8) feet in length in a single utility meter set up.  A similar gear with multiple meters serving multiple tenants could be up to twenty (20) feet in length, depending on the individual service sizes to the tenants themselves.  The building owner should be asked about the division of the tenants in the building, and of these areas, will there be any residential occupancies sold which will require multiple meters.  The language within the leases of the space also dictates whether or not a meter is required (if utilities are, or are not included).

·         Electrical Service Voltage:

o      Smaller and multi tenant buildings are better served with a 120/208 volt, three phase, four wire electrical service.  Larger buildings are usually better served with a 277/480 volt, three phase, four wire service.  The higher voltage system makes building electrical power distribution less labor and material intensive and thus, more economical.  Since the voltage is distributed at a higher value, the ampacity is lower and smaller conductors and conduit can be used.  Transformers are required for the 120 volt distribution however, but these can be placed at the very end points of the required locations for the 120 volt power, limiting the use of longer, lower voltage feeder conductors, longer runs of feeder conduit and shorter branch circuit lengths.

o      The size of electrical gear is based primarily on the ampacity of the bus within.  For example, if a building has an electrical design criteria of 20 watts/square foot for power, lighting and HVAC, a 120,000 square foot office building would roughly require 2,400kW of power.  If the service were designed as 120/208 volt, three phase, the distribution switchgear would need to be 7,000 amperes!  This would require very large switchgear in physical size.  If the service were designed as 277/480 volt, three phase, the gear would only need to be 3,000 amperes!  A significant reduction in physical size as well as cost from the 120/208 volt size.  The next question would be “Why not build all electrical services at the higher voltage?”  One advantage of 120/208 volt electrical services; no need for step-down transformers.  Buildings which have a requirement for more 120 and 208 volt loads are more economically built providing this voltage from the utility.  This works well for single story multi-tenant retail buildings. However, larger buildings typically have larger mechanical, motor and lighting loads.  The power consumption of these loads is typically 60 to 70% of the total electrical load for the entire building.  By designing a 277/480 volt electrical service for this larger building, you can make 60-70% of the buildings electrical distribution system smaller in size, saving on the square footage required for the building electrical rooms.

1.        Special Electrical Utility Requirements:

a.        Specific electric utility requirements force the designer to alter some aspects of the electrical service design.  The most prevalent is mandatory use of EUSERC (Electric Utility Service Equipment Requirements Committee) equipment.  EUSERC equipment is typically much larger physically than distribution equipment typically specified.  This equipment is also better suited for use outdoors, so extra consideration must be taken into account in the planning stages for locations of this equipment.  Some utility clearance requirements can be more stringent than those published in the NEC as well.  It is extremely important to have the utility company involved at the early stages of a project for reviews and approvals of the proposed electrical distribution design.

Upfront coordination on electrical equipment space issues addressed at the early planning stages of the project design is essential and can ease the burden of costly change orders as the project moves forward into the construction phase.