Award-Winning Large-Scale Cooling Retrofit Earns Significant Rebates for Large Data Center Operator
LOS ANGELES (January 14, 2021) – As one of the largest data center companies supporting operations throughout the United States, CoreSite’s facilities require higher than normal energy consumption for their day-to-day operations to keep their customers’ IT infrastructure humming and running smoothly. CoreSite’s facility in downtown Los Angeles, known as LA2, is no exception. Higher energy bills and the potential for strain on the electrical grid – especially during hotter summer months – is a challenge commercial businesses have to solve.
In search of energy efficiency and savings, CoreSite decided to solve this challenge by consulting with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) and participating in the Custom Performance Program (CPP). One of many energy efficiency programs offered by LADWP, CPP offers financial incentives to business customers who install qualifying, new, energy efficient equipment.
Under CPP, CoreSite conducted an extensive cooling retrofit in 2019 that focused on the replacement of its chilled water-cooling system with a new, centralized water chiller system consisting of four 1,500-ton water cooled chillers. The project also included installation of variable speed cooling towers, variable speed chilled water and condenser water pumps and water-side chiller heat exchangers.
The savings achieved amounted to 9.8 million kWh saved per year. This is equivalent to meeting the annual power needs of 1,643 homes, or avoiding 3,400 metric tons of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, equivalent to removing 700 vehicles from local highways and roads. This savings garnered a $3 million rebate check from LADWP. CoreSite also received 1st Place in the Energy Efficiency Excellence Award category (based on absolute annual savings) at this year’s LADWP Sustainability Awards. The awards honor businesses, non-profit organizations and government agencies that garnered significant water and energy savings through their sustainability efforts.
CoreSite’s energy efficiency upgrades will make it easier to maintain the hundreds of customer deployments at their facility, improving their customer service and bottom line. CoreSite is also able to pass energy efficiency benefits on to their customers.
“We were pleased to deliver our new cooling capabilities to achieve an important reduction in emissions,” said Brian Warren, CoreSite’s Senior Vice President of Development and Product Engineering. “We also appreciate the rebate, the recognition of our project and our ongoing partnership with LADWP supporting our position as the leading data center operator in downtown Los Angeles.”
The work on the retrofit required meticulous organization and scheduling. Due to the age and limited space posed by the LA2 facility, CoreSite’s challenge was to design and build a superstructure that would allow large cooling towers to be located over the top of the chiller modules without changing the building’s overall architectural appearance. This design required 22 drilled caissons at 45-feet deep and over 2,000 yards of concrete to support the cooling towers’ structure and mechanical support for the 24-diameter piping system. The secondary pumps had to be placed on the roof and required a large crawler crane with 200 tons of counter weight.
The new mechanical piping was tied into the existing pipe network at strategic locations in order to isolate and integrate both into a seamless operation that would not impact the cooling requirements of CoreSite’s customers. This project also required the installation of five 40,000 gallon storage tanks to provide 24 hours of makeup water storage to supply the cooling towers. Finally, to ensure the entire system remains operational in the event of a power outage, two 2.5 megawatt backup generators and switchgear were also installed.
Datacenters are highly sensitive to temperature changes. For CoreSite to conduct and complete this major project in six months while still operating their facility without a break in service is notable. Their achievement is an example of what can be accomplished through LADWP’s commercial rebate programs.
“LADWP is pleased to support and recognize CoreSite’s commitment to sustainability while helping them better manage their electric consumption and costs through energy efficiency,” said Sharon Grove, LADWP’s Assistant General Manager of Customer Service. “We are glad to have worked with CoreSite to help them implement practical and impactful measures to support their business while also benefiting the environment.”
LA2 Data Center by the numbers:
- 471,000 square feet
- Replaced chilled water-cooling system with a centralized water-cooled chiller system consisting of four 1,500-ton water cooled chillers
- Installed variable speed cooling towers, variable speed chilled water and condenser water pumps and water-side chiller heat exchangers
- 9,857,068 kWh saved per year = enough to power 1,643 homes on an annual basis
Would you like to earn savings for your business as well? LADWP offers a wide range of energy and water saving programs to help you manage costs and reduce consumption. Visit ladwp.com to learn more.
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