Cooling the Data Center: Design of a Mechanical Controls Owner Project Requirements (OPR) Template

As the power demands of supercomputers continue to grow, so do the demands of the mechanical cooling systems that support the infrastructure and building in which the supercomputers reside. Planning for the cooling systems and their mechanical controls are an intrinsic part of any new supercomputer installation. To support the design and commissioning of the mechanical control systems, the Energy Efficient High Performance Computing Working Group (EE HPC WG) Cooling Controls is developing a template for an OPR (Owner Project Requirements) document. The design of the template, while pursued by a small team, leveraged the expertise of the broad membership of the EE HPC WG through surveys and feedback sessions. As a result, the OPR template includes not only a suggested structure, and a checklist of topics that a site might consider including in the document, but also many real-world examples of how the topics were addressed in previous projects. Finally, the Mechanical Controls OPR template is being developed in parallel with other templates focused on other aspects of a supercomputer installation. These templates are intended to improve the efficiency and comprehensiveness of the programming (pre-design) phase of project execution and provide the engineering and design team with better clarity of the facility infrastructure capabilities, expandability, and performance requirements. The intended result is improved construction documents (Basis-of-Design, drawings and specifications) that support the project goals and objectives including reliability, resiliency, and energy efficiency expectations of the HPC facility.