Equinix is the world leader in providing Co-Location data center space for rent. Silicon Valley 5, or SV5, is Equinix’s brand new Co-Lo data center facility in the Bay Area. It is comprised mainly of data center space with a small office area in the front of the building.
Project Requirements
Of all new construction buildings, data centers are among the highest energy consumers for a given square footage. Equinix’s main goal for SV5 was to make it as energy efficient as possible while still maintaining the redundancy and reliability that Equinix is known for. This meant exploring a technology based on refrigeration economization, an idea patented for data centers by a start-up company called Core4. For the initial phase of construction, Core4’s system used 68 rooftop AHUs for data center cooling, along with five 550 Ton refrigeration compressor skids.
What ACCO Delivered
In order to meet the quick design and construction timelines, ACCO offered to assist the team of Costa Engineers and Core4 in producing a 100% Construction set of documents. In order to do this, a representative of Costa Engineers worked in ACCO’s San Leandro office for over a month answering questions needed to complete the drawings.
Concurrent to producing construction drawings, ACCO started modeling the entire mechanical, architectural, and structural drawings for 3D coordination. The electrical and fire sprinkler contractors also inserted their 3D models into the master BIM file that ACCO managed in order to perform clash detection between all trades for coordination sign off.
One advantage ACCO gained in the 3D BIM process was the ability to pre-fabricate a large amount of material in our Pipe and Sheet Metal shops in San Leandro. The pre-fabrication process allowed ACCO to keep up with the demanding field construction schedule.
Project Team
Owner: Equinix
Architect: Sheehan Partners LTD
General Contractor: Turner Construction
Mechanical Engineer: Alfatech/Costa Engineers
Mechanical Contractor: ACCO Engineered Systems