Member News is a special monthly post exclusively featuring the latest news from PCI Mid-Atlantic Chapter members. Content ranges from new hires to company awards and achievements to grand openings and company expansions.
This month our focus is on “How Precast Builds Data Centers.” As data center demand grows, the need for durable, resilient and insulating exterior walls will grow, too. To meet the design and performance requirements specific to data centers, total precast building systems have become the system of choice offering owners and contractors pricing stability and product availability as well as the following benefits.
- Strength and Resilience: The renowned strength of precast concrete offers unparalleled resistance to fires, natural disasters, insects and mold. Like no other building material, its resistance to rain, wind damage, earthquakes, termites and decay provides lower maintenance and insurance costs. It can also withstand many winters of freeze-thaw cycles better than other building materials.
- Quality and Speed: Factory-fabricated precast panels are manufactured in a controlled environment with rigorous quality control procedures. Precast panels are made in advance and stored, then brought to the jobsite as soon as erection is feasible. This innovative process compresses project schedules, reduces safety concerns, reduces site disruption and reduces overall project costs by requiring fewer trades for construction and fewer people on-site.
- Energy Efficiency: Data centers require significant HVAC capacity to offset the heat generated by the servers, and the sophisticated systems draw large amounts of energy off the grid. Using precast wall panels with continuous insulation can provide R-values of R-20 or more depending on insulation thickness. Costs associated with heating and cooling can be greatly reduced through concrete’s thermal mass benefits. Reduced peak heating and cooling loads can be achieved because concrete reacts slowly to changes in outside temperature.
Several precast producers in the Mid-Atlantic have successfully partnered with owners to bring precast benefits to this important sector in our region. Read on to learn more about a few of these notable producers and their capabilities.
- Shockey Precast. With #DataCenterAlley right in Shockey Precast’s “backyard,” they’ve evolved their engineering, manufacturing, and erection capabilities to respond to the unique needs of the data center industry. Early involvement in the design process allows their Engineering team to assist in designing the most effective data center shell possible to meet the Owner’s financial and schedule requirements. From initial design discussion to project turnover, they help owners maximize their watts per acre while also responding to the data center industry’s need for highly accelerated schedules. Shockey Precast has manufactured and erected nearly 10 million SF of precast data center shell space for some of the world's largest and best-known companies. To read the full LinkedIn post click here.
- Tindall Corporation. When NTT Global Data Centers Americas, one of the world’s preeminent designers, builders, and operators of mission critical data centers, wanted to expand their 78-acre Ashburn Data Center Campus by adding a second facility, Tindall Corporation provided the engineering horsepower needed to bring their vision to life. The owner’s goal was to develop a two-story, 250,000-square-foot data center with 32 megawatts of power to join the existing VA3 Data Center. The challenge? Deliver a total precast solution that could meet an aggressive deadline while providing the performance needed to live up to NTT Global Data Centers Americas’s legacy of data center excellence. To learn more about this and other data center projects from Tindall, click here.
Other references on precast and the data center industry, “A Case For Precast: A Smart Solution For Designing Data Centers.”
