THE PROJECT

Guarantee Electrical Company was in the unique position of serving as the electrical construction partner with Chicago based Clune Construction following Netrality’s acquisition of the data centers previously owned by Digital Realty (DR) in St. Louis.  Having previously partnered with Clune in building out DR’s facilities the Netrality expansion made for a convenient continuity of service scenario.  In this case, Guarantee’s intimacy as a team with the buildings involved, and the utility infrastructure serving them proved to be invaluable.

The recently completed renovation expands that company’s colocation infrastructure, bringing enhanced interconnection resources to the site, especially state-of-the-art redundant emergency power, and Unlimited Power Supply (UPS) and supported by updated cooling systems. In detail, the principal focus of the project was on supplying new max-capacity equipment and controls to three Community Service platforms (CS-1, CS-2 and CS-3) located on the third floor of the building. These expand and enhance the “business-end” of data center capacity and performance to the owner’s customer base. 

THE APPROACH

Adaptability and collaboration proved to be critical to the project as the team joined with Clune under an original Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) agreement.  However, the client’s need to advance the schedule with substantive changes and additional services, led to an expansion of scope with a budget to match. Guarantee’s internalized “lean,” highly collaborative construction style helped to keep Netrality’s aggressive, fast-track implementation moving, and smoothed the way to additional assignments at the Walnut Street address.

THE WORK

Featured among the innovations embedded in the technology are levels of automation in the switching systems themselves that enable the allocation of power with cost-effective, multi-tenant metering across a full range of customer colocation services. Among the keys to colocation, is the assurance of reliable access to utility power, supported by automated access to comparable levels of emergency generation at the facility level, together with the provision of a powerful array of unlimited power supply devices (UPS) to each tenant installation. Together these assure fully redundant availability of data connection with first-tier quality of service, resilience and business flexibility in a convenient down-town location.  

Given Netrality’s exacting data center construction assignment, it was especially valuable that Guarantee’s project manager and field electricians were already familiar with the density of existing colocation environment.  It helped preserve the schedule giving the team the advantage of knowing the space and the equipment.  Guarantee’s veteran data-center team were completely fluent in a structured installation process where all phases and tasks, through commissioning, cutover and migration, involve 24/7 connected, mission-critical equipment with nothing less than dual redundancy. In addition to the electrical equipment installed on the third floor, Guarantee supplied a new Lutron Lighting control system for the floor.  Guarantee also wired and supplied power to a new lobby security gate, including the 2-inch conduit providing power for the new gate controllers.

SUCCESS

Adding as it did to what was already among the most heavily interconnected data centers in the region, the Netrality upgrade expands the ability of the company to scale operations to the demands of customers with virtually any traffic scenario.  As mentioned, the quality of the work, the speed of implementation and the flexibility of the team’s responsiveness to changes has led to additional work at other locations.

It should also be noted that the project was completed on time within an accelerated schedule, within budget, and with no lost time incidents or injuries.

SCALE:

• 426,000 + sq. Ft. - Home to mulltiple Fortune 500 companies and 43 Network Operators
• 3000 amp service
• Two (2) 225 KVa PDU’s
• Supplemental 3000 amp generator tap box for future outside generation
• Nine (9) ASCO Transfer Switches