Simon Fraser University Water Tower Building Data Centre
Image
SFUWaterTowerBuilding_BannerSize-01_2270x1335
Location
Burnaby, BC
Project Size
22,000 sq. ft.
Year Completed
2017

A home for Cedar.

The Simon Fraser University (SFU) Water Tower Building data centre is home to the most powerful academic supercomputer in Canada, “Cedar”. The centre is used to study crime data and perform research for other industries. 

Smith + Andersen was engaged to provide electrical engineering design for the facility, including power distribution, lighting and power system design services.
 

No interruptions.

A unique challenge presented by the project involved converting an existing building to a new data centre. Our team worked closely with the contractor to effectively phase the project, maintaining operations throughout. 

The goal of the project was to provide a high-efficiency data centre infrastructure for SFU’s research computing servers, which consisted of one 2.0 MVA unit sub and two 1 MVA diesel generators. The design includes High Availability (HA) computing systems that are protected by a 550kVA (n+1) Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) system and 2.0MVA of utility power for an Ultra High Density (UHD) computing system (30kW per cabinet).

Our team provided infrastructure that would assist FU in reaching its annual benchmark efficiency for Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) target of 1.097, which is in the “ideal energy usage” range for data centres. 

A home for Cedar.

The Simon Fraser University (SFU) Water Tower Building data centre is home to the most powerful academic supercomputer in Canada, “Cedar”. The centre is used to study crime data and perform research for other industries. 

Smith + Andersen was engaged to provide electrical engineering design for the facility, including power distribution, lighting and power system design services.
 

No interruptions.

A unique challenge presented by the project involved converting an existing building to a new data centre. Our team worked closely with the contractor to effectively phase the project, maintaining operations throughout. 

The goal of the project was to provide a high-efficiency data centre infrastructure for SFU’s research computing servers, which consisted of one 2.0 MVA unit sub and two 1 MVA diesel generators. The design includes High Availability (HA) computing systems that are protected by a 550kVA (n+1) Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) system and 2.0MVA of utility power for an Ultra High Density (UHD) computing system (30kW per cabinet).

Our team provided infrastructure that would assist FU in reaching its annual benchmark efficiency for Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) target of 1.097, which is in the “ideal energy usage” range for data centres. 

Project Team