BBVA Bancomer Technology Center, Mexico State, Mexico

BBVA retained Syska Hennessy Group to design the MEP infrastructure for two Tier IV-certified greenfield data centers, each totaling 1,500 sm, in Atizapan de Zaragoza, just outside Mexico City, to serve as a computing hub for the Americas.

Syska was responsible for the design, on-site construction administration services, design and construction certification services and certification with Uptime Institute for BBVA’s technology complex, which also included a 10,000-sm office building housing a multi-level command center, commercial kitchen and heliport. Our MEP design utilized the latest guidelines and modern practices for high-efficiency installations. To achieve the lowest PUE at the lowest cost, the installation included the use of air-side economizer systems and high-performance equipment.

Unique Challenges

The performance of the equipment had to be adjusted for the lower density of the air at this unusually high site altitude of 8,200 ft above sea level, which affects the performance of all air-moving equipment.

The region has strict regulations on the use of potable water for non-domestic use. Our design reclaimed water from rainwater harvesting systems and wastewater treatment plants, enabling the use of reclaimed water for non-domestic use.

The requirements of a Tier IV design necessitate redundancy levels and the compartmentalization of redundant equipment and distribution paths to assure the concurrent maintenance of the equipment and fault tolerance of the system.

Located in a high-risk seismic zone, the design included seismic restraints and components required for all systems.

The Syska documents were fully bilingual (Spanish and English).

Our work included:

• Total UPS power of 3 MWs on Day One and 1.5 MWs for Day Two.
• Design of 230-KV, 25-MVA utility substation supporting the electrical distribution.
• Design of seventeen 2.5-MW and 3-MW emergency generators with continuous ratings and in 2N configuration for a more reliable power distribution.
• 2N chiller plants with sixteen 500-ton, air-cooled, high-efficiency chillers; thermal storage tanks; constant volume primary/variable volume secondary chilled-water pumps and dual chilled-water distribution loops.
• One hundred twenty-three high-efficiency CRAHs units with ECM fans and dual chilled-water coils.
• Low-iron glass used outside the data-hall spaces.
• Daylighting and views incorporated into the orientation of the buildings.
• Security features employed to mask the building function in a suburban setting.

The result was a robust installation with an excellent track record of reliability and uptime, low PUE and sustainable operation. In addition, the infrastructure was designed for Day Two construction of two additional data halls consisting of 1,500 sm of white space.