Indiana University Data Center: Red on Green

Bill Ash, SmithGroup Inc.
Stacy Khukelhan, EYP Mission Control Facilities

This 82,000 gross square feet data center will house Indiana University's (IU's) supercomputer, named 'Big Red,' the fastest supercomputer owned and operated by any U.S. university, and the 23rd fastest in the world. This hardened facility will also contain IU's information technology infrastructure and mission-critical systems, and is designed to protect them from electrical damage, power outages, and natural disasters like tornadoes and high-wind storms. Redundant power, backup chilled water, generators, and UPS systems ensure uninterrupted service for technologies core to the university's mission of research and education.

The project is the first building on a new technology precinct, envisioned as an evolving sustainable campus that is forward-looking and appropriately dense, while still identifiable with the beautiful greenscapes and grounds of the Bloomington campus. The data center is being built over the footprint of an abandoned and demolished building and allows for an approximately 75,000 square feet extensive green roof. The facility is situated prominently on a planned working greenway, and its impact on the landscape is softened by an eight to 10 foot sloping berm on all sides, populated with native grasses.

The building is scalable and may possibly expand to double its size to accommodate research needs, infrastructure growth and grant pursuits. The precinct plan allows for this growth, keeps the data center centrally located, and forms an outer ring of research and office buildings around the perimeter.

The university's current mission-critical systems are housed in a converted office building not originally designed for this use and inadequately secured and supported. A ground up data center therefore offered opportunities for the university to evaluate its operations, explore trends, and evaluate many of the current and developing design options meant to optimize performance, improve longevity, and ensure continuity.

Biographies:

Bill Ash is an architect and LEED® accredited professional, and an associate with SmithGroup, an 800 person national firm with specialized expertise in many project types, including science and technology and higher learning.

Stacy Khukelhan is a mechanical engineer and project manager with EYP Mission Critical Facilities, a global consulting engineering firm with over 350 professionals in 13 offices, specializing in the protection of critical data and communications systems.

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