We get involved early on in all building design projects, starting from the preliminary design phase (or assessment for existing facilities), to conduct a comprehensive cost analysis (construction costs + energy consumption over a defined period), ensuring alignment with requirements and regulatory compliance.
We have developed expertise in optimizing energy consumption in data centers. In all our projects managed as Project Management and Design/Construction, we apply and develop concepts that are: Innovative, designed to reduce energy consumption associated with HVAC and electrical systems on a global or more localized scale (room, zone); Reliable, compatible with operational safety standards (TIERS); and safe for both occupants and facilities (security, fire protection), etc.
Regulatory Context
In addition to our expertise in safety and regulatory compliance across all trades, a data center’s energy performance is an operational requirement. It is characterized by the PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness), as defined by the ISO/IEC 30134 standard. The PUE is equal to the ratio Edc / Eit, where:
Edc (kWh) = Total annual energy consumption of the data center;
EIT (kWh) = Annual energy consumption of IT equipment;
By definition, PUE is always > 1; in concepts developed based on recent standards, we set targets to achieve values in the range of 1.2 to 1.3. New IT equipment technologies operate at temperatures ranging from 20 to 30 °C, which makes it possible to explore alternative systems beyond conventional cooling via the compression of a refrigerant in a cycle.
Our solutions
We utilize free-cooling solutions (this function can be integrated into compression chillers) or adiabatic cooling, without an intermediate refrigerant circuit.
The use of these systems, combined with continuous adaptation of the equipment to the varying demands of IT processes (such as speed control on rotating machinery), enables us to achieve these PUE values.
We perform CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) simulations to validate cooling designs and improve their efficiency.
Due to AI requirements, data centers are evolving into high-performance computing centers (supercomputers) with DLC (Direct Liquid Cooling) solutions based on server core cooling via a “hot” loop.
Our software
AutoCAD: CAD (with a library of modules: architecture, plumbing/piping, electrical),
Visio: Graphic design (with module library: Architecture, Plumbing/Piping, Electrical),
CAD: HVAC and electrical calculation software: Climawin, Autofluid / Autogaine, Caneco Implantation, Caneco BT, Pleiades Comfie, ETAP HT/BT, CFD, structural analysis software.