The Highmark Insurance Data Center is a two-story 88,000 square foot data center facility. The precast structure is designed to withstand 150 mph winds. The facility includes 24,000 square feet of raised floor and has a 26,000 square foot central plant. The infrastructure includes two (2) 2,000 KW engine generators; two (2) 350 ton chillers; and two (2) 750 kva UPS modules with the capability to add two future modules.
This project was the first data center in the United States to receive LEED® Silver Certification. Part of the environmentally friendly approach is a unique server cooling system called the High-Delta T Cooling (HDTC) system. This system uses specialized cabinets to direct cool air into the servers at the floor level or underneath the server cabinet and pull the hot air from the back of the computers out to the top. This increases the cooling efficiency and is a semi-closed loop with air movement. HDTC captures the heat, instead of diluting it by mixing it with the air already in the room; so less air is needed to cool the same amount of heat. This allows Highmark to cool the data center with less cooling units and fewer fans which attributes to using less energy.
The design for Highmark also includes a rain-collection system on the roof of the building which captures water in an underground cistern. A gray water system from this collection system is used to flush the toilets, and the rain water also supplies cooling towers and evaporating systems. The collected rain water also serves as Highmark Data Center's emergency reservoir, so that if the building were to lose access to city water, it could run self-sufficiently for up to three days without the need for outside water. This use of collected rain water also reduces the demand that would be placed on the city water system by the data center.
The Highmark Data Center is unique compared to other data centers in that Highmark wanted its data center to contribute to its portfolio of buildings. One of the key challenges was that Highmark had already purchased the land for the data center, which included many steep slopes. The Team came up with a unique solution by putting all the mechanical and electrical engineering space below the data center.