The briefs are arriving differently now. A few years ago, an MEP Consulting firm on a data centre project would work through cooling requirements methodically, with reasonable lead times and the supply chain organised around fully air cooled infrastructure.
What we are seeing increasingly now is consultants handed a density target in excess of 100kW per rack, and asked to validate a solution before many of the project constraints are fully defined. The IT hardware technology is evolving faster than the data centre infrastructure and the supply chain.
Direct Liquid Cooling becomes the Predominant Solution
With the latest advancements at the chip level, direct liquid cooling is no longer a specialist solution. For high-density AI and HPC environments, direct to chip cooling through a technical cooling loop, typically constructed of stainless steel piping, has become the predominant solution, largely due to its simpler transition and increased cooling performance.
But the coordination burden it introduces is real.
The Coordination Challenge in the Data Hall
Manifolds sourced and installed separately from the rest of the cooling infrastructure create immediate design questions: how is the piping in the data hall supported, where are the valves located, is the pipe sizing sufficient for the cooling capacity required.
Get those decisions wrong upstream and they quickly ripple into issues. By the time it surfaces, unpicking earlier oversights becomes costly across the board.
Why Early Engagement Matters
This is where early engagement changes the outcome.
When Tate is involved from the start, we can consult on pipe sizing, material selection, load implications and how those decisions interact with the broader system before anything is fixed.
Bring us in late and our ability to influence the elements that matter most is reduced. The projects that run smoothest have always been where that conversation happens from the outset.
Reducing Onsite Labour and Programme Risk
This approach can deliver up to an 80% reduction in onsite labour hours across large HAC installations, due to electrical installation being completed in a controlled manufacturing facility rather than the data hall.
Telescopic legs and folding arms on the HAC reduce working at height, simplifying logistics, and keeping the programme on track.
Thousands of hours of avoided site work, and a path to a live date which is far more predictable from the outset.
Supporting MEP consultants
For MEP Consulting firms navigating this shift, Tate's specification team works directly with consultants through CPDs, while our design team are at hand for project-specific design support, covering liquid cooling system design, load implications and product selection.
The intention is straightforward: make sure the right decisions are made early, when they are still easy to make.