The data center construction industry is undergoing major changes as demand for data processing and storage continues to grow. As digital technologies such as AI, IoT, and cloud computing become more prevalent, data centers are adapting to meet the evolving needs of a data-intensive world.
Key issues impacting the data center construction space will take center stage at this month's Data Center Build Summit. The two-day Construction and Design Summit, part of the 2024 Data Center World conference and expo in Washington, DC, will bring together operators, decision makers, and industry experts to explore the impact on the sector. Explore the challenges and opportunities that present.
Ahead of the event, we spoke to industry experts to set the scene by presenting the top trends expected to occur in the data center construction field this year.
Speed, prefab, and creativity
One of the most important trends in data center construction in 2024 will be a focus on getting things done quickly and efficiently, according to Ron Vokoun, director of national market development and chairman of data center builds at Everus Construction Group. That's what happens.
“In this labor-constrained market, data center construction is all about speed,” says Vokun. Data center knowledge. “Any ideas that can increase throughput on construction sites without increasing the workforce will be considered.”
This need for speed has led to a focus on prefabrication. In his 2024 AFCOM State of the Data Center Report, he said, “A hybrid approach that combines traditional buildings and prefabricated modules is likely to be the most common approach to new data center construction over the next three years.” Masu.
“Modular and prefab are not new concepts, but the data center industry has been slow to fully embrace them,” Vokoun explained. “Scalability will make hybrid approaches mainstream for hyperscale data centers. Prefabricated electrical and mechanical assemblies have become increasingly popular in recent years.”
According to Tony Qorri, vice president of construction at DataBank, flexibility and creativity are key to making construction faster and more efficient. “Stacking equipment, modularity, and approaches to prefabrication all need to continue to evolve. More flexibility needs to be built into data center designs. Higher workloads and the need for higher density are driving It's not just about technology; design changes are decided from the very first stages of design, just putting pen to paper. That's when you need to be creative. To provide more power to a building, you need to be more creative. You need to demonstrate.”
Bill Kleyman, Program Chair of Data Center World and author of AFCOM's State of the Data Center Report, echoes Qorri's emphasis on the need for flexibility and innovation.
“The reality is very simple: You can't build data centers the same way you used to. The good news is that there are a lot of innovative leaders out there. A good example is Compass Data Center. Construction in Red Oaks, Texas During our site visit, we had the opportunity to see the construction of a 400 MW data center. But there was something very special here in that these buildings were constructed as 40 MW prefabricated halls. What's really cool here is that 70% of each 40 MW hall is prefabricated, with much of the batch processing done directly on-site. It’s extraordinary in the sense that it can deliver megawatts of power.”
The rise of AI and dense computing
The AI revolution is another driver of the evolution of data center construction. Huge computational power demands from LLM and AI-powered applications are driving the development of a new generation of high-density computing environments.
“As AI requirements increase, data center operators must adapt their infrastructure to accommodate high power density server clusters,” Vokoun said.
The construction technology sector is attracting significant investment, with the role of AI becoming increasingly important in project scheduling, resource allocation, site safety monitoring, and data-driven decision-making. “AI implementation in the construction sector is still evolving and the potential benefits are significant,” he explained, Everus Director. “As technology advances and challenges such as data integration and talent development are addressed, he believes AI will play an increasingly important role in shaping the future of the construction industry.”
Kleiman similarly emphasized the important role of AI in the industry and attributed the incredible pace of acceleration in digital infrastructure and adoption of technologies such as prefabricated electrical and mechanical assemblies primarily to generative AI. I am. “The accelerating pace of digital infrastructure is quite extraordinary, and all of it is being led by Generative AI, the 500-pound GPT-generated gorilla in the room,” he said. “In our AFCOM report, most respondents (56%) plan to deploy AI-enabled solutions in their data centers, with the most common purpose being new generative AI use cases (43%) ).”
“New data centers must be built from the ground up (rather than retrofitted) and AI-enabled because infrastructure has unique cooling and power requirements,” said Baron Fung, analyst at Dell'Oro Group. Told. Data center knowledge. “Over the coming years, we expect to need to add new data center space. Already, hyperscale cloud and colocation service providers are adding newer and more facilities around the world. We’re racing to build.”
Renewable energy and cooling concerns
Sustainability and the integration of renewable energy sources are becoming increasingly important in data center construction, especially as the demand for AI continues to grow. According to the 2024 State of Data Centers report, more than 73% of respondents plan to use renewable energy, with the most popular options being solar (59%) and wind (28%). One thing has become clear. “Sustainability and renewable energy have been top of mind for hyperscale data center operators for many years,” Vokun said. “Hyperscalers will need to double down on renewable energy and sustainability due to increased density associated with AI.”
Vokun's comments came as John Pettigrew, head of the UK's national electricity grid, said demand for electricity from the country's data centers would soar sixfold over the next 10 years.
“Future growth in fundamental technologies such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing will mean large-scale, energy-intensive computing infrastructure,” Pettigrew said at a conference in Oxford last month. Ta.
Data centers face increasing challenges in power management and improving energy efficiency, Kuori said, adding that sustainability will remain a key trend through 2024. It’s sustainable in the data center,” he said. “There is talk of solar wind, small nuclear reactors, hydrogen fuel cells, etc. Finding other sources of power has become a serious problem for the industry.”
Kleiman added, “As quickly as generative AI is taking over the market, it is also creating new conversations about power sources that have been around for quite some time, especially nuclear power,” according to AFCOM’s State of the Data Center report. From this year to last, the number of respondents who say they would use or at least consider nuclear energy has more than doubled, with nearly a quarter of respondents (21% up from 2016, compared to 10% last year).
“At this year's AFCOM Data Center World event, Dr. Kathryn Huff, Assistant Secretary of Atomic Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy, will explore the dynamic changes in clean energy use and policy that are reshaping the world. She will delve into the critical role of nuclear technology in strengthening the energy grid and providing a stable and efficient power source that complements intermittent renewable energy sources such as solar and wind. Highlights of her talk include: It’s the intersection of nuclear energy and digital infrastructure.”
cool running
A recent AFCOM report also highlights increased investment by data center operators in advanced cooling systems, particularly liquid cooling.
According to Kleyman, this is expected to continue to be a focus of discussion and development in the data center design space in the coming months. “It seems like almost overnight, conversations about liquid cooling, single-phase and two-phase liquid cooling solutions, chip direct liquid cooling solutions, and even rear-door heat exchangers became commonplace,” he said.
Vokoun agrees that cooling is a key concern. “We expect innovation in data center cooling technology to continue,” he said. “With each iteration of the AI chip, density continues to increase, far exceeding the capabilities of air cooling. Liquid cooling, in all its various forms, will become commonplace in data centers. My personal The general consensus is that liquid-to-chip connectivity will become the dominant technology, but only time will tell.”
Datacenter Build will run from April 17th to 18th. The two-day construction and design summit is part of the broader Data Center World exhibition and conference, taking place April 15-18 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC. For more information, please visit the Data Center World website.