Armstrong Aisle Containment Provides A More Flexible Solution For Today's Changing Data Centers

Data centers are subject to intense heat demands due to the complex workloads required to power artificial intelligence and other energy-hungry applications. While direct-to-chip cooling can help remove this heat from the processors, a more scalable solution is required to protect equipment and optimize energy control and consumption.  

Hybrid cooling, which utilizes both liquid and air cooling, can provide a more balanced and flexible solution to deal with the extreme heat generated by the high-density AI hardware.  

One solution is Armstrong Cool Shield, a customized aisle containment system for data centers that improves cooling efficiency by physically separating hot and cold airstreams.  

In August 2024, Worthington Armstrong Venture, a joint venture between Armstrong World Industries and Worthington Enterprises, acquired the assets of Data Center Resources related to the design and manufacture of Cool Shield. With AI workloads rising, Armstrong Aisle Containment Product Manager Rick Berendes said the acquisition comes at an opportune time.

“While rack loads were traditionally cooling 10 to 30 kilowatts, the new Nvidia Blackwell chip for AI is pushing out 60 to 120 kW per cabinet load,” he said. “Traditional air cooling with fan walls or duct systems can’t handle this existing infrastructure, so new data center designs are being deployed with direct-to-chip cooling.” 

Berendes said hybrid solutions are needed to keep data center operations cool as they take on more AI-related work.

“While direct-to-chip cooling can handle about 85% of heat rejection, there's still a need for air cooling and containment because the loads are going up significantly,” he said. 

Data centers also need to design for power availability and adjust for the growing weight of equipment, Berendes said.

Cool Shield uses floor-mounted systems to better manage airflow in data center containment. This solution is also more easily integrated with equipment found in data centers. 

With AI hardware constantly evolving, the modular nature of Cool Shield presents a more manageable and adaptable solution for data centers, he said.

“Our system allows for much easier laser leveling of unistrut arms because they’re infinitely adjustable, where other systems have steel solutions with bolts that are more fixed,” Berendes said. “If the floor is three-quarters of an inch off, it's a lot of trouble trying to shim the whole system to try to make those arms level. Since we use aluminum extrusion, we can just stock the extrusion and cut it to the length for the whole site.” 

Berendes added that this approach reduces lead times to just a few weeks, while other equipment that uses more static, steel-fabricated approaches can take months to install. 

Floor-mounted systems were originally installed later in the build-out phase for managing airflow in the cold aisle containment. However, Berendes said he believes that now, since this is more critical, the equipment works best if it is installed in the beginning.

Instead of using steel, which can lead to metal shavings and other debris damaging the server racks, preassembling with aluminum extrusion allows for cleaner and more efficient installation because the pieces can be made off-site and don’t have to go through drastic modifications for build-outs.   

One example is a hyperscale client that required a quick turnaround for a big data center project in Texas. The general contractor of the project worked with Armstrong in the past, and the Cool Shield system allowed for on-the-fly adjustments, such as repositioning support arms, without needing extensive modifications. As a result, the client met its tight timeline while reducing costs.

“When the client started working with one of our competitors, they found the lead time was 16 weeks out,” Berendes said. “They called us to help with the project, and we were able to get all the material on-site in four weeks and build out all 24 aisles in the facility in two weeks.”

Since then, the Armstrong Cold Shield system has been used in several other of the client’s facilities, Berendes added.

Berendes said that as data center operators look to improve heat containment and cooling, they need to be more versatile and flexible to anticipate future changes in the data center.

“Cool Shield not only meets today’s cooling specifications but is adaptable to any future changes,” he said. “Having this foresight not only helps create a future-proof strategy but allows us to act nimbly when problems arise on-site to prevent project delays or shutdowns.”

This article was produced in collaboration between Studio B and Armstrong World Industries. Bisnow news staff was not involved in the production of this content.

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