In 2009 Client C asked Baker Group to retrofit an existing office building into a combination office and data center space.  Three years later Client C once again asked Baker Group to provide plumbing and piping services to add additional systems to this same facility.  

Baker Group successfully replaced eight (8) Liebert chilled water CRAC units with eight (8) Liebert dual cool CRAC units, for additional layers of safety and redundancy, and added a condenser farm, and all associated piping additions, changes, and modifications.

Although adding additional systems to a building that was not originally planned to have dual cool systems was tough, due to space considerations, Baker Group worked successfully to navigate the space to provide a data center upgrade that took the building from an N+1 to almost a 2(N+1) arrangement from a cooling perspective.

Several obstacles that Baker Group effectively worked through, without unplanned outages to the facility included:

• Crowded ceiling plenum that was already filled with Liebert XD piping systems, over-head cable management systems, power systems, and sprinkler systems.
• The installation of CRAC units that were several feet longer than the originally installed CRAC units. 
• Modification of the existing floor structure to accommodate the new floor stands around the underfloor power and chilled water piping while maintaining proper cooling throughout the space.
• Adding thousands of feet of current and future refrigerant piping systems overtop of a functioning data center, racks, etc while ensuring the racks were still provided with proper airflow while protecting the spaces during brazing was a challenge.