Green Gown Awards 2014 - Construction and Refurbishment - University of Portsmouth - Finalist

The University of Portsmouth Data Centre

The University required a purpose built, highly efficient high density data centre to be installed and commissioned within 13 months ready for the start of the new academic year when it would support the IT needs of around 21,000 students and 2,500 staff.

This project included a conservation area planning application, implementing off-site construction processes to deliver the project within an accelerated programme. Plus the delivery of an innovative cooling system that integrates control loops to provide for adaptive and optimised free cooling, boosting the project’s green credentials.

The project was a great success and achieved all of the critical deadlines set, entirely due to the dedication and co-operation of the cross-departmental team members along with working with the right suppliers and consultants. The team successfully shared the vision that the project would succeed and deliver a world class, state-of-the-art, sustainable data centre that the University could be proud of.

Top 3 learnings

1 During the audit of the IT equipment, which was to be relocated to the new data centre, it became apparent there was a substantial amount of ageing equipment running services, and therefore using power, which could be virtualised and run more efficiently
2 The Data Centre migration project has set a precedent and provided a sound benchmark for subsequent projects
3 Working with the right suppliers and designers has enabled the University to significantly eliminate the use of refrigerant gases within the data centre.

Videos

• The University of Portsmouth Data Centre (click to hide)