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Scalable, efficient and compact – ready for the future
WOLF, based in Mainburg, provides its specialist clients with expert contacts who support them throughout the entire project phase. Geert Paelinck, Business Development Manager for Data Centres at WOLF, explains the specific challenges of this business area and the corresponding solutions.
You are the point of contact for Datacenter. What sets you apart?
Geert Paelinck: As Business Development Manager for Data Centres at WOLF, I am the main point of contact within our organisation, as well as for investors, operators, plant engineers and specialist planners who are preparing or implementing the planning and construction of a data centre.
Our particular expertise lies in the field of colocation data centres, complemented by the implementation of hyperscale projects. We integrate planning processes, operator requirements and our data centre know-how, and tailor our high-performance solutions specifically to the requirements of modern data centres.
WOLF customers value our cross-disciplinary expertise. Right from the early project phase, we work with the planners to analyse the project requirements and objectives and identify technical specifics. Building on this, we develop concepts for energy-efficient and scalable data centre cooling that are technically and energetically optimised to meet the requirements of the specific project.
Data centres come in various sizes and are located in different climate zones. What challenges does the industry face?
Geert Paelinck: The growing demand for computing power driven by digitalisation, AI applications and the push for greater European digital sovereignty is leading to more data centres and, at the same time, significantly higher installed IT capacity per site. Regardless of a data centre’s size or geographical location, temperature and humidity must be maintained within a very narrow range, even when IT loads fluctuate significantly.
However, the real challenge posed by digitalisation, AI applications and ever-increasing power densities today lies in the speed of growth. This is significantly altering the requirements placed on data centres.
To define the appropriate cooling solution for a project, the basic layout of the data centre must be clearly described at an early stage. At the start of a project, we then work with planners and operators to examine the issues of energy consumption, redundancy and space efficiency, in order to reconcile these conflicting requirements in a cost-effective manner. Whilst at the start of a project often only the climatic conditions of the site and, where applicable, the existing building geometry are fixed, cooling concepts can be flexibly adapted.
What are the key considerations when planning a data centre?
Geert Paelinck: Energy consumption is clearly the main focus, as any improvement in efficiency has a direct impact on operating costs and thus on the cost-effectiveness of a data centre. Our aim is for our solution to be the most sensible option, both technically and in terms of energy efficiency, under the specific conditions of each site – not only during partial load operation, but also during full load operation.
The second key issue is redundancy, which is essential for reliability. Concepts such as N+1 are standard practice and must meet high standards of reliability and availability.
The third aspect is the space available for cooling solutions. Data centres must be able to grow, which requires both scalable technical solutions and the efficient use of technical space. This aspect is particularly crucial for colocation data centres in order to be able to implement future expansion phases cost-effectively.
What role does scalability play in the design of data centre cooling?
Geert Paelinck: A data centre’s cooling requirements evolve dynamically throughout its entire lifecycle. Both the installed IT capacity and the power density often increase gradually, which is why future-proof cooling concepts must be designed with growth in mind from the outset. Scalability is therefore not an additional feature, but a fundamental design criterion for modern data centre cooling – regardless of whether the data centres in question are hyperscale, colocation or enterprise centres.
Consequently, cooling systems today must be designed to be significantly more powerful and flexible than they were just a few years ago.
Traditional concepts with centralised cooling generation and decentralised CRAH or CRAC units often require complex air distribution via raised floors or extensive pipework. This increases the construction effort and the complexity of the systems and is now increasingly reaching its limits as power densities rise.
What solution does WOLF offer for data centres?
Geert Paelinck: Air conditioning concepts that combine high cooling capacity with scalability, redundancy and efficient use of space – such as fanwall systems – enable cooling capacity to be provided in a modular manner tailored to specific requirements.
Fanwall systems generate high air flow rates and can adapt these flexibly to different load profiles.
The units are installed directly adjacent to the whitespace or as part of the server room and operate in pure recirculation mode using highly efficient EC fans, optimised airflow and high-performance heat exchangers. The high cooling capacity is thus provided where it is needed with low energy consumption, whilst long air paths, high pressure losses and complex airflow management are avoided.
In many cases, raised floors are not required, and maintenance work can be carried out entirely from the service aisle. This simplifies subsequent expansion phases and increases operational reliability, particularly in colocation and hyperscale environments.
At the same time, redundancy concepts can be easily implemented.
Do you follow a specific WOLF approach to finding solutions for data centres?
Geert Paelinck: Our greatest strength lies in the personal, collaborative dialogue we maintain with our customers and their planners, always on an equal footing. In many cases, these business relationships have been in place for decades. At the same time, WOLF can draw on over 60 years of experience in the development of ventilation and air-conditioning systems ‘Made in Germany’.
We listen carefully, analyse the respective requirements and conditions, and develop technically and economically suitable solutions based on this. Instead of rigid standard concepts, we tailor our systems specifically to the requirements of each project. We also use practical insights to continuously develop our product portfolio – in our own research and development departments, in collaboration with customers and planners.
The fact that this approach works is demonstrated time and again on site. For instance, as part of a pilot project, we were able to convince one of Europe’s major data centre operators of the merits of our Fanwall concept. Today, further similar projects are in the planning stage.
As a particularly future-proof solution—also for hybrid data centers—we recommend our Fanwall DCA. Compared to conventional solutions, it requires around 8 percent less energy and also offers the advantage that its especially convenient maintenance is carried out exclusively from the technical corridor.
Further information on the WOLF Fanwall DCA:https://www.wolf.eu/en-de/professional/ahu-products/datencenter-fanwall-dca