Data centers are growing at an unprecedented pace, fueled by cloud computing, AI, and high-performance workloads. While most of the conversation focuses on cooling the white space, it’s essential to cool the spaces that help power the rows of servers and racks that drive data center performance.
Gray spaces may not house servers, but they do power those all-important spaces. In data centers, gray space refers to the support areas that house the critical infrastructure powering the white space. Gray spaces can include UPS rooms, battery storage, switchgear, and other key equipment that ensures continuous operation. In short, white spaces can’t operate without the systems found in gray spaces.
Just like servers, gray space equipment requires efficient, effective cooling to succeed. An overheated gray space puts uptime at risk, leading to costly power outages and other serious issues. Let’s break down the common HVAC challenges gray spaces face, and how data centers can address these issues with the right HVAC solution.
6 Top HVAC Challenges for Gray Spaces
1. Heat Load and Variability
The Issue:
Gray space equipment rarely runs at full load on day one. Instead, facilities may start at 10% of eventual capacity, gradually ramping up to 100%. This variability makes it difficult to size and plan HVAC solutions for both immediate and future needs.
How to Address It:
A modular approach can allow you to scale your gray space accordingly and tailor equipment to your requirements. Bard wall-mount systems offer a wide range of capacities along with scalable options for adding units as demand increases. Engineers can right-size their investment today while ensuring they can expand cooling capacity tomorrow.
2. Reliability and Consistency
The Issue:
When gray spaces fail, so does the critically important white space. Unreliable HVAC leads to downtime, costly outages, and potential damage to equipment. The addition of new equipment and removal of old equipment can also make it challenging to maintain a consistent heat load, requiring an HVAC solution that allows you to adapt as needed.
How to Address It:
Bard wall-mount systems are proven to provide consistent cooling and energy efficiency in critical environments like telecom and utility shelters. Durable construction, industrial-grade performance, and long lifecycle design ensure reliable operation in demanding conditions without any roof penetrations that create leak points overhead.
3. Tight Performance Specifications
The Issue:
Data centers often require extremely tight tolerances, with specs sometimes as precise as ±1°F. While these specs may be stricter than necessary, engineers are still responsible for delivering solutions that meet them.
How to Address It:
Advanced controls provide precise monitoring and zoning capabilities to keep systems within specification. Features like remote alarms and real-time data access allow engineers to maintain performance, allow for more visibility into active data, and respond quickly to deviations.
For example, the LC6000 controller from Bard allows for control of up to 14 unites with three zones of operation, along with features like continuous ventilation and remote monitoring. This level of command over mission critical applications gives technicians peace of mind that their units are operating efficiently inside each building.
4. Limited Interior Space
The Issue:
Every square foot of interior space is valuable. HVAC systems that consume rack or floor space reduce available capacity for mission-critical equipment, making your operation less efficient and effective.
How to Address It:
The less interior space you need for HVAC, the better. Exterior wall-mounts like Bard MEGA-TEC PLC air conditioners free up all interior floor and rack space while delivering precision cooling. By eliminating in-room cooling equipment, engineers maximize usable gray space to get the most impact and value out of their essential power infrastructure.
5. Service and Maintenance Access
The Issue:
For both white spaces and gray spaces, the less you need to go inside or on the roof, the better. HVAC systems that require technicians to enter these rooms lead to more operational disruptions and increased contamination risk. In addition, specialized systems like CRAC (Computer Room Air Conditioning) units may require specific third-party contractors to service them.
Rooftop HVAC systems also pose additional problems, as maintenance access requires individuals to wear proper fall protection gear and follow site-specific safety protocols to prevent falls and injuries. These necessary precautions increase complexity, required time, and costs needed for any maintenance.
How to Address It:
Exterior wall-mounts are fully serviceable from outside the building without needing rooftop access. Turnkey wall-mount HVAC systems are more easily installed by modular equipment building manufacturers and minimizes intrusion into sensitive environments. In addition, Bard’s broad distribution network ensures parts and equipment are available locally for fast turnaround.
6. Diverse Project Requirements
The Issue:
No two data centers are the same. A gray space located in the southwest is going to have different climate demands, building layouts, and redundancy needs than one located across the country. The problem is that some HVAC equipment is better suited for certain environments than others, requiring you to identify a flexible solution instead of identifying different equipment for 100-plus buildings across different sites.
How to Address It:
Bard provides a breadth of configurations, including humidity control, electric heat, and both simple and advanced controls. This flexibility makes it easier to specify solutions tailored to individual project requirements while maintaining standardization across modular gray space buildings located at multiple sites.
Bard: Cooling the Spaces That Power Data Centers
Gray spaces may be behind the scenes, but their importance cannot be overstated. As the critical link that keeps white spaces running, the right HVAC solution for these environments is about more than cooling – it’s about protecting uptime, optimizing energy efficiency, and simplifying service.
With decades of proven performance, Bard delivers the durability, space efficiency, and reliability that data center engineers and e-shelter manufacturers can count on. Reach out to Bard today to invest in one of our reliable, wall-mounted products to keep your hardware safe from the heat.
Breathe easy. You’ve got Bard.
