ATS Automation

Smart Building Control Systems Serving Western and Central Washington

Building Solutions

  • Controls
  • Energy Optimization
  • Service

Data Centers Projects

ATS has worked on data centers for large, nationally known companies in Puget Sound, Quincy, WA;  San Antonio, Texas; Chicago, IL, Forest City, N.C.; Altoona, IA, Prineville, OR and Lulea, Sweden.  We are experts at maintaining uptime, critical monitoring of electrical systems, Evaporative Cooling Systems and standard Chilled Water Systems.  We have also performed numerous retrofits of smaller data centers and gateways to increase energy efficiency.

Data Centers

data hall image

Confidential Data Centers – Manassas, VA

Located on a 34 acre-campus outside of Washington D.C. in Manassas, VA, these three data centers will have a combined transmission power capability of 108 megawatts. The ATS Critical Facilities Team is playing a crucial role in construction by delivering cutting-edge building management system controls and software solutions. The ATS expertise extends beyond installation, as we provide continuous preventive maintenance and unwavering support to safeguard the uninterrupted operations of these mission-critical facilities.

Data hall with technician

Confidential Data Center – San Jose, CA

Located in San Jose, CA, this state-of-the-art data center boasts a transmission power capability of 32 megawatts. To ensure unparalleled performance, the ATS Critical Facilities Team played a crucial role by delivering cutting-edge building management system controls and software solutions. Our expertise extends beyond installation, as we provide continuous preventive maintenance and unwavering support to safeguard the uninterrupted operations of this mission-critical facility.

Header image with data center technician

Confidential Data Centers – Hillsborough, OR

Located outside of Portland in Hillsborough, OR, ATS Critical Facilities provided this data center campus with control solutions for two data centers that have a combined transmission power capability of 48 megawatts. The ATS Critical Facilities Team provided building management system controls and software for the data centers and ongoing preventive maintenance and support to ensure these mission-critical facilities maintain 100% uptime.

Odense Data Center

Confidential Data Center Campus – Odense, Denmark

Located in Odense, Denmark, ATS completed work on this state-of-the-art data center campus in 2020. The ATS Critical Facilities Team played a critical role in its development by providing building management system controls and software for two of the data center facilities on-site. These facilities, which ATS completed, have a combined transmission power capacity of over 64 megawatts.

ATS was responsible for both data centers’ shell and core work and data hall buildouts. With ATS’s expertise and meticulous attention to detail, the campus has become a reliable and secure hub for data management.

Papillion, NE Data Center Hall

Confidential Data Center Campus – Papillion, NE

Located in Papillion, NE, this data center campus spans 146 acres and was first established in 2017. The ATS Critical Facilities Group played a pivotal role in its development, providing building management system controls and software for a cold storage facility and five of the data center facilities on-site. In total, the facilities that ATS completed boast a combined transmission power capacity of 168 megawatts. ATS was responsible for these facilities’ shell and core work, data hall buildouts, and various facility improvements. Thanks to the ATS Critical Facilities Group’s expertise and meticulous workmanship, the campus has become a reliable and secure hub for data management.

ATS is currently in the process of providing building management and controls to an additional three buildings totaling 96 megawatts of capacity across the street on the customer’s second facility.

Fort Worth, TX Data Center Hall

Confidential Data Center Campus – Fort Worth, TX

Established in 2015, this data center campus in Fort Worth, TX spans 170 acres. ATS Critical Facilities played a crucial role in the development of the campus, providing building management system controls and software for three of the data center facilities on site. The combined transmission power capabilities of the ATS-completed data center facilities is 96 megawatts.

In addition to shell and core work for all three data centers, ATS oversaw data hall buildouts and various facility improvements. Their expertise and diligent workmanship contributed to making the campus a reliable and secure hub for data management. ATS’s involvement ensured that the data centers operate efficiently and safely, further solidifying the Critical Facilities Group’s reputation as a mission-critical facility construction and management leader.

Altoona, IA Data Center Campus

Confidential Data Center Campus – Altoona, IA

Located in Altoona, Iowa, this data center campus spans 400 acres and was first established in 2013. The ATS Critical Facilities Group provided building management system controls and software for five data center facilities and a cold storage facility on site. Combined, the facilities have transmission power capabilities of over 174 megawatts. ATS completed shell and core work for the cold storage and data centers and oversaw data hall buildouts and various facility improvements. As a result, the campus has become a reliable and secure hub for data management, made possible by the ATS team’s expertise and diligent workmanship.

Prineville, OR Data Center

Confidential Data Center Campus – Prineville OR

The ATS Critical Facilities Group played a key role in the development of a large data center campus in central Oregon. Specifically, ATS CF provided building management system controls and software for four data center facilities, totaling transmission power capabilities of over 76 megawatts. ATS completed shell and core work for three of the facilities and oversaw various data hall buildouts and improvements for all four. Thanks to their expertise and programming capabilities, ATS ensured seamless operations and optimal efficiency for this expanding data center campus.

Wenatchee Data Center ATS Project

Wenatchee Data Center

Cooling the Data Center

Eastridge Case Study SavingsLocated in central Washington state, Wenatchee is known for its apples, wide-open spaces, and its abundance of activities for outdoor recreation. The area is also well suited for locating mission critical data centers. The vast open landscapes, mild dry climate, and low power rate from hydropower attract many high-tech firms needing to locate off-site data centers. The mild climate allows for “free cooling” by utilizing air-side economizers to cool the data center with outside air instead of mechanical cooling for much of the year. However, this “free cooling” only works when data center sequences and safeguards allow the equipment to utilize it.

Facility staff at an international communication company’s Wenatchee data center realized they were not taking advantage of “free cooling” strategies once they began reviewing data from the ATS facilityCARE ongoing commissioning and advanced analytics service.

ATS installed the control system at the data center in 2008 utilizing the sequences specified during construction. The original sequences focused on loading the plant and letting it run, which resulted in chillers operating more hours than needed. In addition, over time, system modifications and one-off changes created conflicting overrides of the economizers. As a result, the economizers were not open during times with optimal “free cooling” conditions. The facility was not fully utilizing outside air for cooling, resulting in increased utility cost and unneeded equipment runtime.

Free Cooling Enabled

In 2015 ATS implemented facilityCARE, an ongoing commissioning and advanced analytics service to track equipment usage and highlight opportunities for operational improvement at the data center. SkySpark (www.skyfoundry.com) is used in the ongoing ATS facilityCARE service that includes monthly reviews and analysis by ATS engineers. As part of a facilityCARE review, ATS verified what facility operators had long suspected — the economizers were not functioning optimally. Using historical site data, ATS developed an estimate of savings based on the requirement that the facility use outside air for cooling when available. With data to back up the proposed changes, ATS was contracted to implement an energy conservation measure (ECM) to modify the economizer sequences so they function when outside air conditions are optimal for cooling. Without the facilityCARE service, this issue may have gone unaddressed since the plant appeared to be operating smoothly, experiencing no temperature issues and the facility engineers were focused on more immediate concerns.

Air-Side Economizer Savings

ATS implemented the updated economizer sequences in the fall of 2017. Now that the sequences are in place the data center has seen impressive savings over the first two months of operation. Over December 2017 and January 2018, the data center saw $22,500 in avoided cost for their data halls. Utilizing a baseline for comparison, the data center is expected to see a 24% reduction or 5.2 million kWh usage drop. The facility is also expected to save $137,000 in avoided utility cost over the first year of operations.

Data Center SavingsFor additional details read the entire case study detailing the work performed at the Wenatchee Data Center.

Download Full Case Study

Wheeler Data Center Project

Wheeler Data Center

Approximately 461, 000 sq. ft. 63/20 financed project consisting of two office buildings to house the headquarters for the Washington State Department of Information Systems, as well as a new state data center that allows the state to consolidate older data centers into one efficient location.  Project features include: ~30, 000 sq. ft. of white space. Ultimate build is ~60, 000 sq. ft. of white space; 4.5 MW critical load. 9.0 MW ultimate build-out; Cooling system is air handlers with air-side economizer, direct evaporative cooling, and chilled water; Chiller plant uses high-efficiency variable-speed chillers and variable primary flow; UPS units have continuous-rated static switches, enabling 99% efficiency; ATS provided Alerton controls on all HVAC, water and electrical monitoring systems.