How can you incorporate outside air cooling for a facility housing one of the world’s fastest supercomputers?
How can you incorporate outside air cooling for a facility housing one of the world’s fastest supercomputers?

LLNL Building 453 Terascale Simulation Facility

This building was designed and constructed to accommodate a high-power computing system and the extensive HVAC system required to cool it. The building was modified to allow for cooling by introducing outside air into the mechanical system. This modification will save the owner millions in operating costs.
 
Customized Solution
  • The existing 268,000 s.f. computer science research center was modified to provide an alternative to the existing forced-air cooling system for the computer rooms. This alternative consists of an upgrade of the mechanical cooling system to provide “Free-Air Cooling” when exterior temperatures permit.
  • The project involves providing an exterior louver system in the building’s cladding and new exhaust fans to the roof. All work was designed and coordinated to allow the facility to remain fully functional during construction.
CATEGORIES

Justice/Civic/Governmental, Science & Technology


HIGHLIGHTS
  • Architect: RMW Architecture + Interiors
  • Owner: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
  • Steel framed
  • Extensive team collaboration and structural analysis was required to allow for the installation of new mechanical units on the 130' clear span long-span truss roof system.