BUIL07019 2017 Facility and Utilities Management for Data Centres

(KK) Understands the operational practice and roles of facilities engineering as applied to data centres , including risk planning, tier level appropriation, cooling methods, international codes of practice, risk and assessment of hazards, operational safety including fire safety and environmental issues.

(KB) Has knowledge of Uptime Institute Standard, Syska, ANSI/BICSI(Data Center Design and Implementation Best Practices), ANSI/TIA 942-A(Telecommunication Infrastructure Standard for Data Centers) , EN 50600, ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers) standards, CIBSE (Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers) relevant guides and practises including CIBSE Guide B suite " Heating, Ventilating, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration", Guide E " Fire Safety Engineering, Guide F "Energy Efficiency in buildings", Guide K " Electricity in Buildings" Technical Memoranda including TM46 "Energy Benchmarks", AM12 "Combined Heat and Power"  for Data Centres and other regulatory and operational standards.

Other recognised codes of practice in the area of energy auditing including SEAI(Sustainable Energy Authority Ireland) and ASHRAE.

(CC) Can interpret and apply energy auditing skills using energy management metrics and case study examples to propose appropriate efficient energy measures(EEM)  - no cost, low cost or investment opportunities. Energy accounting with metrics are analysed for their effectiveness, simply payback schemes, as well as low carbon schemes such as CHP(combined heat and power), lighting and human factor elements.

(CR) Can exercise independent technical judgement by producing material for presenting and debating the efficacy of a facilities topic including building management systems, cooling systems set-ups, battery installations, major incidents, physical and digital security, maintenance management, humidity etc. Students continue their analytic skills by learning from their peers presentations and answering a simple set of questions assessing their learning outcomes from each others point of view.

(CLL) Ability to interpret processes, principles and mindset required for data centre operations and design based on case studies, White Papers, conferences, seminars and international guidelines. By comparison, students identify gaps in their personal knowledge, understanding and skills and over the course of the module, develop the ability to apply the learned tools to facilities engineering. These areas including HVAC technologies, energy monitoring, software control systems, utility usage, fire protection strategies and data centre trends.

(KK) Understands the operational practise of fire detection and suppression systems as applied to data centres. An appreciation of the risks specific to data centres, the appropriate suppression systems for each area and the implementation based on case studies, White Papers and reference texts.

Lectures will be delivered online over one semester. Content will be aimed at and relevant to actual data centre practice in the form of case studies, White Papers, industry relevant publications and recognised Institutes. 

This module will include an assignment of a delivered presentation and associated report(worth 40%), continuous assessment in the form of weekly quizzes(40%) and a formal open book exam at the end of the semester (20%). 

ALL assessments must be passed.

The presentation topic is an industry related question for or against a particular technology or mode of operation in the data centre. The topics are set by the lecturer and intended to motivate the student(s) to broaden their mindset on topics.

Assignments will be marked at the same time as written exams. Repeat assignments can be submitted at the same time as repeat written exams.

• Facility management operation and principles for data centres - risk profiles, tier levels, HVAC systems, hazards
• Associated international guidelines, standards, regulations and authorities - ASHRAE, Uptime Institute, TIA, ANSI etc.
• Energy auditing - energy metrics, energy models, efficiency metrics, utility usage, low carbon initiatives, human factors, SEAI, CIBSE, ASHRAE
• Fire detection and suppression systems for data centres - types, alarming mechanisms, standards, design layout
• Maintenance - predictive, preventive, conditional  
• Physical and digital security
• Critical Systems Infrastructure(CSI) - mindset, processes and principles of operation - hospitals, nuclear etc.