Best Management Practices in Design, Construction, and Maintenance of Mechanical Systems in Data Centers

The purpose of this research study is to evaluate the challenges faced during the project definition, design, construction, and maintenance phase of mechanical systems projects for new Data Centers or existing Data Centers. Construction industry professionals, design professionals, data center management, and engineering personnel were surveyed. The survey questionnaire comprised of 27 questions and focused on the following themes: general information and respondent’s area of knowledge and experience, overall management challenges in data centers, challenges specific to data center mechanical systems, standard management practices and processes employed in data center mechanical projects and recommendation and suggestions to arrive at best management practices in mechanical systems projects for data centers. The results of the survey were evaluated to arrive at best management practices to better assist in building reliable data centers.