Kao Data wins global ASHRAE Technology Award for ‘Industrial Facilities and Processes’

Paul Finch, Interim CEO and COO, Kao Data, who was presented with the award by ASHRAE President Darryl K. Boyce during the ASHRAE Winter conference and AHR Expo, Orlando, FL, said, “As a member and contributor within ASHRAE, it is immensely gratifying to be acknowledged and awarded first place in this broad category. At a time when our market is maturing and continuing to grow exponentially, the need to develop sustainable data centres is essential. Energy, water and natural resources are at a premium and as an industry we must all bare the responsibility to address sustainability and place it at the top of the corporate agenda.”

The award acknowledges the design, engineering and execution in the development of the Kao Data site as the UK’s first 100-percent free-cooling wholesale colocation campus. Its voluntary registration to accredited industry associations and ISO standards are highlighted through its previous achievement of BREEAM ‘Excellence’, which assessed the buildings’ energy efficiency, environmental, ecological and sustainability competency, amongst other key benchmarks. Also notable is the complete omission of the use of refrigerants as a cooling medium, eliminating the associated global warming potential.

Kao Data sets the standard in data centre design and innovation whilst following industry best practices defined by ASHRAE Technical Committee 9.9 (TC9.9). Its Hyperscale inspired for enterprise concept is certified as the UK’s first Open Compute-Ready (OCP) campus. It is engineered to be highly efficient, utilising 100% free cooling to reduce the complexity of mechanical components, whilst resulting in increased levels of reliability and availability.

At a time when the Uptime Institute Annual Data Centre Survey 2019 reports operational averages of PUE >1.6, Kao Data continues to demonstrate its commitment to sustainability through its use of 100% renewable energy and its ultra-low PUE >1.2, even at low IT utilisation. This delivers a highly scalable, ultra-efficient and market leading colocation solution for Life Sciences and enterprise customers in the UK Innovation Corridor, and cloud services businesses throughout the UK and Europe.

ASHRAE is a global society dedicated to advancing human well-being through sustainable technology for the built environment. Its worldwide membership focuses on building systems, energy efficiency, indoor air quality, refrigeration and sustainability.  TC 9.9 is concerned with all aspects of mission critical facilities, data centres, technology spaces and electronic systems. This includes computer rooms, server rooms, raised floor environments, high-density loads, emergency network operations centres, telco facilities, communications and electronic equipment rooms within the technology industry.

“We congratulate each of ASHRAE’s Honors and Awards recipients for their leadership in advancing the future of our industry and our Society,” said 2019-20 ASHRAE President Darryl K. Boyce, P.Eng.