Strategic Directions Re-Designs Data Centres; Singapore Recycles Buildings

Leading Australian ICT Master Planner Strategic Directions, which has designed energy efficient data centres powered by alternate energy sources and technologies,  has been invited to join the prestigious International Data Centre Institute of AFCOM, the world’s largest independent data centre industry body. Ecospecifier which has set up an operation and website for Singapore and South East Asia, tells us about a new Singapore Government funded initiative to recycle waste materials from demolition of buildings.

Announcement from Strategic Directions:

Leading Australian ICT Master Planner Strategic Directions – the design authority behind the recently opened $220 Million Polaris Data Centre at Springfield near Brisbane – has been invited to join the prestigious International Data Centre Institute of AFCOM, the world’s largest independent data centre industry body.

Strategic Directions is the first Australian company (and the first organisation outside the USA) to be invited to join the internationally recognised Think Tank.

Strategic Directions has designed a geothermal powered data centre (with zero carbon emissions) for Queensland based ASX Company Geodynamics and is also involved in designing a family of world class, energy efficient data centres powered by alternate energy sources and technologies, including wind, solar, biomass and hydro. 

The Data Center Institute (DCI) was formed in 2001 by AFCOM with a charter is “to provide leadership and direction for the global Data Centre industry.”

Data centres are already acknowledged as one of the heaviest industrial users of power – the design of energy efficient, alternate energy data centres for the future is gaining the attention of Governments and Organisations around the globe.

The invitation to join the DCI followed AFCOM CEO Jill Eckhaus and AFCOM Founder Leonard Eckhaus’ first visit to Australia last year – and Strategic Directions Technical Director Mike Andrea’s presentation at AFCOM’s International Data Centre Forum in Nashville, Tennessee, USA in early March.

Mr. Andrea’s case study highlighted the modular design and operational delivery of the $220 Million Polaris Data Centre, Australia’s only purpose built free standing Data Center – a Joint Venture by the Springfield Land Corporation and Suncorp, located at Greater Springfield near Brisbane. The POLARIS Data Centre is one of only 5 data centres selected recently by the Australian Federal Government, to provide interim Data Centre space to major Government Agencies.

The Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA) this month gave Greater Springfield its National Award for the best Planned Community in Australia. The Springfield Land Corporation also took out the UDIA National Presidents Award. Strategic Directions is the ICT Master Planner for the Greater Springfield project which includes the Polaris Data Center. During her tour of the facility last year, Ms Eckhaus commented, “I believe that when it comes to data centre design Australia has a lot to teach the rest of the world.”

DCI Board members, all leading data center industry experts, include AFCOM’s CEO Jill Eckhaus & Founder Leonard Eckhaus; APC’s CTO James Simonelli; Bick Group’s EVP Tad Davies; CA’s Product Management Advisor Sam Somashekar; Connectivity Technologies Inc.’s President Tim Hazzard; Fujifilm’s VP of Marketing Rick Gadomski; Intel’s DC Architect John Musilli; NORTEL’s Global Data Center Manager Paul Greenley; NER Data Products’ SVP Scott Steele; and Siemens’ Head of Commercial Real Estate & Data Center initiatives Maureen Versen.

Founded thirty years ago this year, AFCOM members today include most of the Fortune 500 Companies, plus many Government Agencies and NGOs throughout North America. AFCOM has just announced it is expanding into Australia and Asia Pacific with local chapters in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.

The next industry position paper to be released by the Data Centre Institute concerns Cloud Computing and will be issued later this month.

The Strategic Directions Group includes ICT Master Planners and Strategists, providing vendor independent strategic advice to Federal, State, and Local Government Agencies and ASX Companies. The Company maintains a specialist Data Centre design and planning Practice and has been involved in the design, development and operation of some of the most advanced data centres in the country including the Treasury Data Centre in Canberra.

They were the design authority for the POLARIS data centre, one of only 5 data centres selected recently by the Federal Government, to provide interim Data Centre space to major Government Agencies.

Source: www.strategicdirections.com.au

Ecospecifier which has set up an operation and website for Singapore and South East Asia, tells us about a new Singapore Government funded initiative to recycle waste materials from demolition of buildings. Here’s the story:

THE Building and Construction Authority (BCA) announced a new $15 million Sustainable Construction Capability Development Fund during the opening ceremony of Samwoh’s Eco-Green Park.

The fund is part of the effort to encourage industry players to adopt Sustainable Construction (SC) practices and technologies, and eventually steer the industry towards self-sustenance in the demand and supply of SC materials in Singapore.

‘Depletion of natural resources in the long run will very likely lead to higher material prices. We must take pro-active steps now to enhance the resilience in the supply of our construction materials.’ said Grace Fu, Senior Minister of State for National Development (MND) and Education, after announcing the new fund.

Developing capabilities in recycling waste materials from demolition of buildings and in the use of recycled materials for construction will be the focus of the SC fund.

The BCA hopes that the fund, which will support training, promotion and education programmes within the industry, and more extensive test-bedding of SC technologies and materials, will lead to industry players integrating SC into designs, building processes and business operations.

The fund will also be used to support an expected increase in demand for SC materials.

Adoption and upgrading of new technologies among demolition contractors, recyclers and ready-mix concrete suppliers, to adapt to the SC materials, will also be supported by the SC fund.

Ms Fu highlighted MND Research Fund for the Built Environment, used to fund Samwoh’s newly opened Eco-Green Park, as an example of a project that would qualify for the new SC fund.

Samwoh’s Eco-Green Park is hailed as the first building in Singapore to use recycled concrete aggregates (RCA) in its structural concrete elements.

The three-storey building cost $4 million to construct, and the flooring of the top storey is composed entirely of RCA.

Samwoh continues to test and develop new construction materials recycled from waste arising from the demolition of buildings and roads.

When asked if the fund would grow in the future, Ms Fu stated that this was just the beginning and SC was an area that would see long term attention.

Ecospecifier announcement:

Welcome to ecospecifier South East Asia, a new service to South East Asia with a data and knowledge base commencing at over 200 eco-products, eco-materials, technologies and resources, the leading global source of sustainable development & life-cycle assessed green product information.

Linking independent information with a powerful search interface, ecospecifier does your materials research for you, delivering innovative sustainable product solutions with unique difference.

Categorising products according to rating scheme compliance for tools such as Green Mark and Green Building Index, ecospecifier helps you reduce the time and costs of implementing Best Practice Green Buildings & Developments relevant to:  Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam & Thailand.

Source: www.bca.gov.sg and www.ecospecifier.sg