New Westminster Hub

Keeping Essential Equipment Running During Upgrades

For decades, the people of British Columbia have relied on this telecommunication company for telephone and internet service. In order to continue providing the service expected of them, their infrastructure needs continual updating as new technologies are developed. In the fall of 2014, their New Westminster hub was scheduled to undergo improvements.

The Challenge

During these network upgrades, the hydro feed to the building needed to be shut off. However, service to customers can not be interrupted. In order to maintain a stable system a large battery bank is used to run the equipment during power outages. There is not enough power in the batteries to run the building cooling system so a freestanding independent cooling system must be implemented. Cool Air Rentals was called in to keep the batteries and machines from overheating.

The Solution

In the battery rooms and power rooms in the basement, we used multiple 3- and 5-ton water-cooled units totalling 31 tons of cooling. For the equipment on the first floor, a 25-ton air-cooled unit was installed outside and the conditioned air ducted in. The most complicated part of the setup was on the second floor, where most of the essential equipment was held. For safety and security reasons, we were not able to cut any holes in the walls or run any duct through open doors. We ended up sitting three 20-ton air-cooled units outside and ducting the cool air in through relief air grills. Scaffolding was erected underneath the louvres from the outside to support air-mixing boxes that we built to take in the air from the units and deliver it to the rooms. Inside, we used a system of fans to distribute the cool air evenly throughout the area and eliminate any hot spots. In total, just under 150 tons of cooling was used to keep everything running smoothly, all of it powered by a 150 kW generator that sat outside the building.

The Result

Over the course of the two-week rental, Cool Air technicians provided round-the-clock service, closely monitoring the equipment and performing frequent tests to ensure the system was working as intended. There were no issues and the project was a complete success, with no interruptions to service whatsoever.