A Power Dispatch & Communication Command Center HVAC Project
--Water-Cooled Precision AC + Water-Source VRF + Heat Recovery · Integrated Energy Environmental Control Solution
Project Overview
Located in Zhejiang Province, this project has a total floor area of 58,000m² (43,000m² above ground, 15,000m² underground), comprising multiple buildings including a podium, main tower, annex, and exhibition hall. The 1# building houses power supply and battery rooms on the first floor, dispatch and communication server rooms on floors 2–4, and the main dispatch hall on floors 5–6. As a critical command hub for the power system, the project demands exceptionally high standards of reliability, energy efficiency, and zoned control.
Core Design Philosophy:
Oned Customization + Free Cooling + Intelligent Interconnection
Addressing the diverse requirements - 24/7 cooling for data rooms versus intermittent cooling for office areas - the project adopts a "zoned customization" strategy, matching each functional zone with the optimal air conditioning solution while maximizing overall system efficiency through intelligent integration.
Data Rooms:
Water-Cooled Precision Air Conditioning (24/7 Cooling)
The data rooms are distributed across the 2nd-floor communication room, 3rd-floor information room, and 4th-floor automation rooms, with a total area of approximately 1,858m², IT heat load of ~1,080kW, and total cooling demand of approximately 1,303kW. The solution features water-cooled precision air conditioning units - a total of 19 units (15 primary + 4 backup), each with a cooling capacity of 94.8kW, delivering a primary total cooling capacity of 1,422kW with N+1 redundancy for uninterrupted operation.
The precision units achieve ±0.5°C temperature control accuracy and ±3% humidity control accuracy, meeting the stringent environmental requirements of IT equipment. The operation strategy utilizes chillers in summer, while maximizing free cooling from outdoor air during transition seasons and winter - plate heat exchangers directly utilize cooling tower water, reducing compressor runtime and significantly lowering energy consumption.
Office Areas:
Water-Source VRF Air Conditioning System
The office areas are served by a water-source VRF system with outdoor units centrally arranged and floor-by-floor independent control. The system fully utilizes cooling tower free cooling during transition seasons and winter (automatic switchover when outdoor wet-bulb temperature ≤10°C), achieving 30%–45% annual energy savings - far exceeding conventional VRF systems. An intelligent group control system monitors load variations in real-time, automatically adjusting the number and frequency of operating units for refined energy management.
Heat Recovery System
The data rooms generate approximately 1,500kW of stable year-round heat dissipation, which is recovered for winter heating of office areas, covering approximately 60% of the office heating demand. Combined with the heat recovery system, annual operating costs can be reduced by approximately RMB 120,000 compared to conventional gas-fired boiler heating solutions, effectively replacing fossil fuel consumption.
Project Value
① Safe and Reliable: N+1 redundancy design meets 24/7 uninterrupted operation requirements for data rooms;
② Green and Energy-Efficient: The data center employs water-cooled precision air conditioning integrated with water-source heat pumps and cooling tower free cooling technology, delivering an overall energy efficiency improvement of over 40%. The system is designed to achieve a PUE of ≤1.25 - outperforming the national data center average of 1.46 and meeting the Grade 2 energy efficiency standard (PUE ≤ 1.30) as defined in GB 40879-2021;
③ Cost-Effective: Initial investment approximately 15% higher than conventional systems, with incremental costs recovered within approximately 3 years through electricity savings, and a 28% total cost reduction over a 10-year lifecycle;
④ Smart Management: Enables refined energy management with reserved interfaces for future digital twin systems.
