Stay cool
Controlled Air Traffic
The cold air generated by the air-conditioning systems is directed down into the raised floor and then along to racks and computer cabinets. The “cold-aisle/hot-aisle containment” principle provides an optimum cooling circuit. In a cold-aisle the cool air from the air-conditioners is passed through the perforated floor plates and drawn-in by the computer fans. The heated air then flows into the opposite hot-aisle, rises to the ceiling and flows back to the air-conditioner. A water-glycol mixture absorbs the excess heat and transfers it to the heat exchangers on the building roof. In the cool months the heat exchangers don’t have much to do, the amount of waste heat is nearly zero. The reason: the heat is extracted from the coolant by a heat pump and is then used for heating the German Weather Service office areas totalling over 22,000 square metres. The computers therefore not only supply the much longed-for computing power to the meteorologists and scientists, they also simultaneously provide a cosy atmospheric environment.
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