Blackiron Data partnered with Emerson Network Power to select and install the Liebert room-based data center cooling system at its new Toronto DC3 site, Canada’s first Tier III design and construction-certified data center facility.

“We had three objectives in building our newest data center in Toronto – make it environmentally friendly, attain third-party certifications and guarantee 100 percent availability for our customers,” says Ron Ethier, vice president, data centers and operations, Blackiron Data. “The Liebert DSE allows us to meet all three of our objectives. The system leverages Toronto’s cool temperatures for optimum efficiency and energy use without sacrificing performance or disrupting our availability guarantee for customers. Utilizing this new precision cooling technology was one of the key elements to the Toronto data center successfully achieving Uptime Institute and LEED certifications.”

Blackiron Data’s Toronto DC3 facility uses multiple 40-ton Liebert DSE cooling systems to regulate cooling in the 50,000 ft2 data center, with power density at 15 kW per rack. Each system employs variable-speed fans, staged evaporator coils, tandem Copeland Scroll digital compressors and pumped refrigerant economizers to ensure efficient, effective cooling.

 Liebert Econophase, a pumped refrigerant economizer, leverages cold outside air to cool the refrigerant used in the Liebert DSE system, reducing or eliminating compressor operation. This system provides cooling within the data center, allowing Blackiron to cool a large space without chiller plants and chilled water. With Toronto’s cool temperatures, this translates into free cooling more than 75 percent of the year, allowing Blackiron to lower power usage and energy expenses. During the summer, the Liebert DSE utilizes the most efficient variable capacity compressors for operation.