Vanderbilt University
Hill Data Center
The Customer Challenge
Located in Nashville, Tennessee, Vanderbilt University embarked on a massive electrical and mechanical upgrade project for its data center backup and redundancy capabilities. Hill Data Center (HDC) is the university’s main data center on campus. The project required maintaining full data center operations without any interruptions.
Recognized for our track record in large-scale installations, Sylvan was awarded the mechanical portion of the HDC project. This consisted of installation of two 100-ton air-cooled chillers, two 50-horsepower chilled water pumps, six 400-gallon chilled water buffer tanks, 22 in-row coolers, three chilled water distributions units and three thermal aisle containments.
The Sylvan Solution
While ensuring uninterrupted data center operations, Sylvan deployed its veteran team of skilled trades to execute the project inside the HDC. Our expert pipefitters and welders had to install carbon steel weld pipe beneath the data center’s raised floor for the new chilled water system.
Overcoming several obstacles arising from such a confined and complex workspace, Sylvan implemented a safe and efficient plan. This consisted of TIG-welding the chilled water piping under the raised data room floor, installation of the chillers on the roof, as well as the chilled water pumps and buffer tanks in the basement mechanical room.
The Result
Thanks to careful planning and flawless execution, the project was successfully completed on schedule without incident. Now working on Phase II at Vanderbilt University’s HDC, Sylvan is adding two more chilled water distributions units and twelve in-row coolers on the new thermal aisle additions.