Our team has maintained a long-standing relationship with this confidential health insurance client, delivering program and project management along with electrical, mechanical, plumbing and fire protection engineering services.
A master plan developed in 2015 outlined a strategic series of upgrades needed to maintain the data center’s resiliency, providing a clear roadmap for capital planning and identifying windows for reducing system redundancy.
The first and most complex initiative involved replacing aging, single-point-of-failure switchgear and generators with a fully redundant system—all while keeping the facility operational. The design required close coordination with the utility provider to enable paralleled transfer capability and concurrent maintenance. The upgraded configuration introduced 6MW of generation with electrically and physically segregated paralleling gear, allowing seamless transitions between utility power and backup generators during maintenance and testing.
Working directly with the client’s IT team, our team developed a playbook to guide the phased replacement of multiple UPS systems, paralleling gear and existing power distribution units without disrupting critical operations. This meticulously planned sequence was executed over multiple weekends with zero downtime.
To address thermal resiliency, Computational Fluid Dynamic modeling and failure scenario testing identified the need to upgrade chillers, pumping systems and control strategies. The team’s mechanical and electrical engineers jointly designed a new chiller plant capable of withstanding both electrical and mechanical failures. The upgraded system incorporated high-efficiency chillers and was successfully deployed without impacting computing operations.