Compass Datacenters' Commitment to Community and Innovation
The global data centre industry is experiencing unprecedented growth, driven by the rise of big-data applications and the colossal volume of data this generates. An astonishing 90% of all data in existence has been created in the past two years, and data centres are where most of that data lives. Such growth brings significant opportunities for the industry, but also challenges – just ask Compass Datacenters.
The company built its first data centre in 2013 and for more than a decade Compass has driven major innovations in how data centres are designed, built and operated. These innovations have had a dramatic impact on:
The speed and scale at which data centres can be built
The sustainability of data centre construction and operations
And the ability of data centre campuses to be good neighbours in the communities where they are located.
Speed and scale of construction was the first area of innovation that gained notoriety in the industry. The company was quick to leverage modular construction, relying on a standard kit of prefabricated parts, a manufacturing-inspired approach to assembly, batch processing, integrated supply chain partnerships and much more to build data centres at a speed and at an unprecedented scale. These innovations also enabled Compass to achieve quality and safety that set new standards in the industry. Collectively, these innovations are helping to build this critical infrastructure at a pace that has made Compass a go-to partner for the world’s largest cloud and hyperscale companies.
Sustainability is a second area where Compass has achieved numerous firsts in the industry, creating a blueprint for critical IT infrastructure that is far greener. These innovations have included the use of CarbonCure concrete to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of construction, optimising cooling strategies that do not utilise water, utilising greener construction materials, reducing the amount of transportation needed for construction vehicles, protecting green space and much more.
Another high priority for Compass is being a good neighbour in the communities where the campuses are located. As the number and scale of data centre campuses have accelerated, there has been a wide range of reactions from the residents who live near them. Many communities recognise the positive impact of data centre developments and welcome them as major positives for their economy, supporting the commercial tax base without taxing infrastructure and services like schools. But a growing number of communities are expressing reservations about the proximity of data centres. Compass recently, in partnership with cooling technology provider Vertiv, completed innovations to its cooling systems to be quieter, enhance communities and blend more seamlessly into their surroundings.
Innovation is making Compass Datacenters better neighbours
To illustrate this third type of innovation, let us look at a first-of-its-kind collaboration between Compass and its strategic supply chain partner Vertiv. The project began as a way to address a specific noise issue in northern Virginia but will lower the sound profile for all of its campuses globally.
In January 2023, Compass commissioned a data centre in Leesburg, Virginia. In March of the same year, neighbours began to hear an occasional humming noise. When local residents asked Compass to look into the sound, Compass immediately began to study the sound and understand the issue.
Since its founding, the company has worked with Vertiv for its cooling technology. Sound studies conducted at Compass’ Leesburg data centre showed that the cooling equipment was registering at 25 - 35 decibels, which is comparable to a whisper. The issue wasn’t volume. As the team kept digging into the data, they found a rogue tonality – an elevated pitch perceptible only to some residents.
Compass and Vertiv dug deep, learning what they could in order to avoid such problems in future. Their combined hard work revealed the problem: air flow from fans was striking mounting brackets creating the bothersome pitch. By re-engineering the fan mounts, the team was able to deliver a 20% reduction in sound pressure at lower frequencies.
“Vertiv has been our partner since the get-go,” explains Nancy Novak, Chief Innovation Officer at Compass Datacenters. “Although we were well below the noise ordinance level and we didn't have any kind of a legal or contractual obligation to do anything, we spent nine months solving the problem. Both we and Vertiv want to be good neighbours.”
Compass Datacenters developing future-ready technology and ESG solutions
In recognition of the critical role innovation has in the company, Compass created the role of Chief Innovation Officer in 2020 and named Nancy to that position. Since her first day in the role, she has been driven by a personal mission to transform the way that data centres are designed and built, with a major focus on sustainability.
With a background in construction, Nancy saw the potential for ESG innovations for data centres to be a proving ground for massive ESG gains in construction overall. Given that construction and buildings (i.e., the built environment) account for 40% of all greenhouse gas emissions, ESG gains in this industry have an enormous impact on global sustainability.
“ESG is a huge topic for us, and we think about that in everything we innovate,” she says. “But with my background as a builder, I really do focus on the built environment, which is perfect for the role I have. I often tell people I have the best job in the world.”
Nancy’s favourite aspect of working in the data centre industry is the cross-section of humanity she gets to work with, from skilled trades through to architects and engineers. There’s also the fact that everything the data centre industry does touches pretty much every human on earth.
“I look at it as a noble profession and enjoy being a part of the data centre industry for this reason. It's cool because you're always learning about every business you build for.”
There is no shortage of learning opportunities, given the range of daily challenges she faces. It is this thirst for problem-solving within Compass Datacenters’ leadership that makes the company not only neighbourly, but also effective in meeting the needs of customers.
Adil Attlassy – the company’s Chief Technology Officer – picks up this theme as well.
“Our data centres create jobs and various opportunities. More importantly, we make sure that the communities we work with understand data centres are the backbone of the digital economy and there are great benefits associated with the digital economy sitting in your backyard.”
Currently, Compass and the wider data centre industry face the so-called ‘Four Ps’ of innovation: People, Planet, Power and Perception.
Addressing the ‘people’ challenge, Nancy says: “Workforce development is critical. Setting a skilled workforce in place to continue building out the digital infrastructure is a big challenge.”
Next, she turns her attention to the planet.
“We in the data centre sector have to be stewards of our planet,” she says. “What's fascinating about this in the context of the built environment is that the better we are with our ESG strategy, the better we are in all kinds of other ways.”
Such examples include achieving higher quality and safer operations, greater levels of efficiency, stronger workplace diversity and less waste.
For Nancy, a highlight of her role is overcoming challenges on projects where she balances speed, budget and managing expectations. She feels that a particular strength is empathy.
“I like to make sure everybody feels good about a project during its construction and also when it's finished,” she says. “As women, we are uniquely adept at putting ourselves in other people's shoes and understand what motivates people, which is especially important in challenging circumstances. I try to view our partners through that same empathetic lens.”
Although Nancy is excited to see the data centre industry experiencing unprecedented growth, she is aware that it also faces a number of challenges which could impede its ability to meet demand. Long-time partners Vertiv and Schneider Electric are helping Compass meet such challenges, both with whom Nancy works closely. One significant challenge the industry faces is power availability.
“AI came on strong and created a surge in power demand, which purports some challenges. But the mother of invention is necessity, and necessity is going to drive us to solve this.”
Data centres ‘have a responsibility to lead sustainable initiatives’
As Compass Datacenters works to address the energy challenge, it is assessing a raft of different technologies, including long-duration energy storage and energy-as-a-service offerings, so when it builds large campuses it is a giver as well as a taker of power.
“I feel that for the data centre industry and the digital infrastructure industry, it's almost our obligation to pivot and change the entire construction industry,” Nancy says. “We can start looking at ways that we can future-proof our facilities and do it in a very sustainable way.”
In terms of future proofing its operations, Nancy says Vertiv makes for a wonderful partner, especially when it comes to meeting the ever-increasing demands of the market.
“AI means computing needs have increased ten-fold,” she says. “We all saw this coming, so it wasn't a surprise, but what has been surprising is how quickly this became normalised in everybody's lives.”
She adds: “When we look at high-density computing and the power and capacity we need now, Vertiv is a great partner on that journey. It has an excellent product and working with Vertiv has been a factor in our success.”
The demand driven by AI and cloud growth has led Compass Datacenters to innovate and accelerate data centre construction, but as it does so, the company is also increasing its commitment to quality.
“If you do things in an offsite environment, quality is everything because if you're going to ship it to a site and then assemble it, tolerances have to be very precise,” Nancy explains. “What we also do in offsite environments, especially with regard to our equipment, is we commission this to the fullest extent possible pre-shipping and reverify when we get to the sites. It's easier for us to control in that environment than it is in an onsite environment.
“These are facilities we want to be able to utilise for many decades to come,” Nancy says. “Because these are robust facilities made of precast, with good thermal properties and fire resistance, we will be able to.”
Compass and Vertiv have collaborated to design rapidly deployable thermal systems that are built and delivered in ways that accelerate delivery timelines for facilities.
“At the moment, we are looking at doing some redesign of our rapidly deployable thermal systems, without breaking our prototype and accommodating the new density requirements that we have,” says Nancy.
Compass CTO Adil is an expert in the technical aspects of this. He works with Vertiv as a partner, to help future-proof Compass data centres for its clients.
“I've been in the data centre industry for over 25 years and what I love about it is that just when you think you have seen it all, something new comes about,” says Adil. “We went from retail co-location services to wholesale services to hyperscalers and now to AI. It's constantly changing, and it keeps you on your toes.”
According to Adil, AI is driving the thermal demands through the roof because of a skyrocketing density increase.
He adds that Vertiv has always been a very forward-thinking partner. This close partnership has helped to develop a new product that offers the flexibility to cool with air or water within Compass’ current building and equipment yard footprint, with no impact on the electrical distribution. It is a simple “Plug and Play.”
“It is an outstanding product,” says Adil.
“This new technology provides the water cooling required by the energy-intensive computing of AI. We explained what we needed, and Vertiv had the flexibility and agility to work closely with Compass to develop a solution combining two well established products in the same box,” says Adil. “Now we have the ability to switch from air to water seamlessly.”
AI and cloud growth is helping drive such innovation, but Adil is most interested in how it can accelerate data centre construction in a sustainable manner.
“We like to say that, at Compass, we assemble, rather than construct,” Adil says. “Assembly means that you can draw from a wider labour pool, and you achieve better quality because all the components are prefabricated off-site by skilled labour, brought on-site, and assembled.
“The rate of growth that we're experiencing is demand driven by AI and cloud growth. This has led Compass Datacenters to innovate how it can accelerate data centre construction, while continuing its quality and safety commitments.
Three quarters of the components in Compass Datacenters are prefabricated off-site, and the company aims to make this as close to 100% as possible. The company’s supply chain is, of course, vitally important.
Adil says: “We're deeply embedded with our supply chain partners and committed on a long-term basis to one another.”
Accelerating data centre delivery and meeting customer needs
Another factor to Compass’ success is the quality of its people and the wide-ranging professional – and life – experiences they bring to the company.
In a previous life, Compass Quantum General Manager, Tony Grayson, spent 21 years in the Navy, an experience he says he misses every day. Tony’s military grounding has given him the skills needed to thrive in the data centre space.
“Veterans come to the sector with a team-first mentality,” he says. “They also focus on getting the mission done. You can teach most things, but those two traits are something that you either have or you don’t. That is why we do so well.
“I help people with the transition back to civilian life and I have started to take tech leaders out to a carrier to show them what people in the Navy do. Some of them think we're just knuckle-draggers. But sailors work on computers, network equipment and state-of-the-art technology.”
Tony is focused on a modular approach to data centres and how AI is impacting the sector.
“Compass Quantum is able to support people to successfully deploy this new infrastructure and quickly adapt to changing needs, like higher density for new AI accelerators. Our units may not be as big as a typical hyperscale campus, but we can build to the same quality and resilience. We're developing a space that more people are starting to look at to fulfil their needs – both enterprise, Department of Defense and Federal Government,” he says.
In his daily work, Tony battles with the misconception that modules are cheap, throwaway assets.
“It's about getting past this perception and showing customers the modules are on par with hyperscale standards. For instance, we use a cutting-edge composite that not only has low carbon and is 100% recyclable, but it can also stop a bullet and is rated in Florida for a Category 5 hurricane shelter.”
Tony also points out that so-called Space-as-a-Service (SaaS) allows customers to add remote or edge capacity quickly, without unwanted pressure on capital expenditure.
“From the modular perspective, we’re ready to meet the challenges related to rapid growth across the industry. If you look at what's happened in the market, especially with AI, we've gone from standard computer racks that are eight kilowatts per rack, to 40+kW for NVIDIA’s Hopper Chipsets which will soon be followed soon by NVIDIA’s Blackwell chipset at 130+kW per rack in just a year.”
He adds: “It’s going to be tough to keep up with this rapid pace but that is where we accelerate, by enabling the customer specific chipsets and eliminating some of the business risk of being stuck with outdated data centres. Vertiv is helping with this by providing systems and engineering support.”
Quantum data centres are also sustainable, creating 90 times less carbon than a traditional steel module of the same size and neither do they deploy concrete.
“We don't disturb the environment,” says Tony. “When we deploy or when we move, it's like we were never there. We minimise environmental impact and minimise how we affect the land around us. This enables us to deploy anywhere – on sand, in parking lots, you name it.”
Adding IT capacity via Quantum also solves a number of customer needs, whether it is at the edge or the rapid deployment of additional capacity for existing data centres.
“We're taking a mass customisation approach that’s no different from the auto industry,” Tony says. “Our manufacturing approach allows customers to personalise products, while the business retains some of the speed and low costs of mass production.”
He adds: “We use what Vertiv is using in its own modules, with our own composite shell to help us use their scale to deploy them, quickly and with a low total cost of ownership.”
Tony explains it is not only the enterprise sector that Vertiv is helping with, but also military, federal and state customers, who “want something that's strong and sustainable, at a low cost and of high quality.”
He adds: “We are set up to deploy inference AI anywhere it is needed. This could be in a rural area, but it could also be downtown.
“This is where AI is headed, and we want to be the sustainable and rugged platform companies, militaries and governments turn to for supporting it.”
Over the next 12 months, Nancy, Adil, Tony and their 185 colleagues will continue to work alongside local communities and will focus on moving the company forward.
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