As energy costs rise and environmental concerns grow, data centers are being pressured to operate more sustainably without compromising performance. In this case study, implementing cold aisle containment (CAC) with the help of expert consultants Legrand helped an operator enhance its sustainability metrics and passively improve power efficiency for a data hall.

The client is a data center subsidiary of a leading Singaporean company with a global network of data centers spanning Asia-Pacific and Europe, and a focus on data center design and construction. They offer a full range of colocation services to leading brands, financial institutions and government agencies.

An End User’s Sustainability Commitment, A Vendor’s Challenge

It all began with the end user, a leading cloud services provider and an existing Legrand client. They had signed the Climate Pledge, a global commitment aiming to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2040.

With this commitment, they needed their vendor to implement facility management strategies that improved energy efficiency and reduced carbon emissions with minimal disruption to operations.

As the end user was already familiar with Legrand and the high level of service and expertise provided, they connected us with the vendor – and the rest is history.

Improving PUE, Sustainability and Operational Resilience Through Tailored Containment and Safety Integration

Through close collaboration with the client’s operations team, Legrand implemented a custom-engineered cold aisle containment system to complement the data hall’s existing CRAC units combined with raised access floors and perforated floor tiles.

By addressing multiple non-standard architectural gaps with bespoke containment panels, the solution ensured an optimal seal for cold aisles, enhancing airflow management.

Through preventing mixing of hot and cold air, the CAC reduced cooling load on the CRAC units and enabled them to operate with more efficiency while maintaining temperatures at set points. These improvements decreased both energy waste and long-term operational costs, aligning with the end user’s mandate to have improved sustainability measures.

Sustainability aside, Legrand’s Proximity Infrared Sensors, integrated with energy-efficient LED lighting inside the cold aisles, provided motion-activated visibility that reduced unnecessary energy usage while improving safety and working conditions for personnel.

Compliance and life safety were also central to the design. Adhering to Singapore’s SCDF Fire Code 2023, which requires at least 70% opening of containment systems to allow for effective fire suppression, Legrand installed smoke sensors linked to a dedicated fire alarm panel. These systems would automatically trigger the top containment panels to open in an emergency, with options to manually override the mechanisms adding a layer of operational assurance.

To further increase system reliability and resilience, more than 30 Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) units were installed. These units safeguard the containment panel release system against brownouts and power disruptions, preventing false activations and ensuring continuous protection.

Conclusion

Altogether, the solution advanced the data hall’s sustainability metrics, lowered operational energy use, enhanced regulatory compliance, and bolstered facility and equipment resilience, helping the client future-proof their infrastructure for growing AI and high-density workloads.

All these were achieved with minimal disruption to the legacy setup and downtime for the data hall, an example of a cost-effective and impactful upgrade data centers could look to as they transition to support modern workloads and meet changing evolving environmental needs.