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7:20 am Registration & Networking
8:20 am Chair’s Opening Remarks
Overviewing the Data Center Market in 2023
8:30 am Panel: Understanding Owner Priorities for Development Opportunities
Synopsis
- Outlining Owner requirements for Data Centers to assess location, market type and how each market changes your development profile
- Understanding specific business goals required for scalability
- Exploring the design and construction implications of Owner priorities/requirements to plan projects accordingly
9:10 am Exploring the Application of IC Methodology for Data Center Design & Buildout
Synopsis
- Understanding the challenges faced by builders today and how the industry needs to change to meet unmet building demand, optimzie processess and achieve scale
- Describing building component productization to understand how it will enable new ways of working
- Showcasing emerging capabilities Autodesk is working on to enable IC
9:40 am Morning Refreshments & Speed Networking
Track 1: Program Leadership
Overcoming Supply Chain Disruption
10:40 am Managing Supply Chain Bottlenecks to Enhance the Procurement Cycle & Adapt to Market Demand
Synopsis
- Outlining the common challenges with specific components driving delays and how teams are beginning to combat these
- Collaborating across stakeholders to identify supply chain bottlenecks and use the schedule and sequencing process to ensure projects remain on track
- Communicating project details with project partners to mitigate risk in supply chain disruption
11:20 am Planning For Complexity | How a Top Data Center Contractor Delivers Greenfield Mega Projects On-Time
Synopsis
The growth of AI, cloud computing, work-from-home, and digital business transformation is driving unprecedented demand for data center construction. With the average site build time now 12 months or less, and the total U.S. planned square footage growing at 350,000 square feet per month, teams need a planning solution to develop highly repeatable processes and workflows. In this presentation a leading data center builder will show how to leverage technology to reduce schedule risk for multi-site data center projects.
Brasfield & Gorrie will share their solution for:
• Managing a tight schedule on massive, complex projects
• Catching problems early to minimize schedule slippage
• Avoiding and managing rework
• Enabling owner, contractor, and trade partner collaboration
11:50 am Audience Discussion: Increasing Communication With Vendors & Manufacturers to Streamline Manufacturing & Construction Processes
Synopsis
- Broadening relationships across a wider vendor pool to limit risk
- Assessing the impact of this on improving availability or sourcing potential substitutions
- Improving multi-faceted communication with vendors to help plan downstream and reach out to clients about potential problems
Track 2: Planning, Design & Preconstruction
Setting up for Success
10:40 am Analyzing the Impact of Data Center Requirements on Site Selection Criteria
Synopsis
- Understanding the different site requirements for hyperscale, enterprise, edge, colocation and cloud data centers
- Understanding the requirements of AHJs in different regions to streamline the zoning, planning, and permitting of data centers
- Analyzing facility innovation and design evolution to understand impact on site criteria and availability
11:20 am Analyzing the Benefits of Preliminary Partnerships & Supplier Integrated Design for Reducing Risk in the Supply Chain
Synopsis
- Engaging vendors in the pre-design phase of a project to manage expectations on material availability and adaptability
- Emphasizing the benefit of collaborative design that involves suppliers to improve project cost, lead times and execution
- Working with suppliers to improve the management of delivery logistics and milestones to reduce risk of increased
11:50 am Audience Discussion: Assessing the Most Impactful Actions the Entire Team Can Take to Bring Value to Early Schedules
Synopsis
- Exploring what owners and designers can do before a contractor is onboarded to mitigate delays in schedules
- Reviewing what owners are doing to more accurately map out schedules to assess their impact and incentivize teams to effectively execute them
- Maximizing how Electrical and Mechanical Contractors can work alongside General Contractors at the start of a project to bring value to early schedules
Track 3: Construction & Project Delivery
Meeting Client Expectations
10:40 am Panel: Understanding Owner Priorities for Effective Cost Engineering to Maintain Margins & Share Risk
Synopsis
- Understanding client priorities and how they inform their cost models to plan resources accordingly
- Tackling project uncertainties and estimations to ensure no party is carrying all the risk of cost
- Working across stakeholders to maintain margins by outlining pricing models and committing to them throughout the project
11:20 am Evolving From Supplier to Partner to Meet Customer Needs in Mission Critical
Synopsis
- Matching the forward-thinking of technology companies’
- Delivering project excellence
- Building organizational mechanisms for continuous improvement
11:50 am Audience Discussion: Discussing Key Factors for Project Delivery Success to Meet Increasing Client Demands
Synopsis
Following the morning’s opening sessions, these breakouts will give you the chance to reflect on how to level up every stage of project delivery. Understand what this means for you and how you can use this information to help influence your external clients and internal teams.
12:30 pm Lunch Break
Developing Go-to-Market Strategies
1:30 pm Panel: Developing Services & Forming Cross- Stakeholder Partnerships to Collectively Improve Capacity
Synopsis
- Rethinking our philosophy as an industry on issues such as sustainability, innovation, and recruitment to tackle these challenges collectively
- Understanding how firms are developing their own service offerings and go-to-market strategy to provide more value within the market
- Sharing lessons learned across stakeholders to inform the promotion and scaling of value chain approaches
2:10 pm Managing Inventory & Materials Logistics to Facilitate Large-Scale Construction Projects
Synopsis
- Utilizing materials logistics and inventory management to expertly organize inventory ensures that everything arrives where it needs to go, on time, and eliminates miscommunication
- Being proactive with material logistics planning to eliminate schedule risks and unintended costs and make data center construction projects more efficient
- Exploring Trangistics focus on complex, technology-focused construction such as semiconductor fabs, data centers, space program clean rooms, and other similar projects
2:20 pm Building Projects at a Program Level to Increase Efficiencies for Projects
Synopsis
- Understanding how we build relationships beyond project level and the benefit to each party
- Outlining the scope of the program to address key milestones and logistics
- Regularly reviewing construction programs to identify changes in delivery or unforeseen bottlenecks that can inform how we partner more effectively
3:00 pm Collecting & Anaylzing Project Data to Inform Business Strategy Within an Ever-Changing Market
Synopsis
- Identifying sources for gathering project data to improve data governance across stakeholders
- Understanding how best to manage and validate data to keep up with changing market dynamics
- Using data analytics to highlight major risks and avoid repeat failures
The Impact of Data Center Power Demands on Design
1:30 pm Exploring the Impact of High-Density Compute & Liquid Cooling Technologies on Data Center Design
Synopsis
- Understanding what is driving the adoption of liquid cooling to highlight the advantages of these new systems and technologies
- Identifying the implications for adoption on the physical design of data centers
- Outlining standards around liquid cooling to optimize those systems and their impact on the base design of data centers
2:10 pm Data Center Piping Liquid Transport
Synopsis
- Showcasing double-walled stainless steel monitored security pipe
- Exploring manufacturing and testing processes
- Discovering the advantages for Contractors and data center operators
2:20 pm Panel: Effectively Integrating Data Centers to Local Grids to Improve Stability & Tackle Power Demand
Synopsis
- Outlining the requirements and policy standards needed of data centers for grid integration
- Understanding how the architecture of data center power systems needs to change to optimize integration
- Helping to balance the grid to get permission to build future data centers
3:00 pm Understanding What Energy Sources to Integrate to Inform Design Decisions & Improve Data Center Efficiency
Synopsis
- Assessing the Data Center energy landscape to identify the specific design needs of each source type
- Working with utility companies to help set up and scale systems in a constrained market
- Exploring onsite energy storage and microgrids and their implications on design and preconstruction considerations
- Reviewing Data Center facility and infrastructure components to choose alternatives that improve energy conservation
Transforming Productivity
1:30 pm Panel: Comparing Different Construction Technologies to Measure Success & Assess Return on Investment
Synopsis
- Revealing how construction technology has helped improve project outcomes to measure their success/usefulness
- Identifying and measuring the right KPIs to determine whether these tools are providing a return on investment
- Analyzing changes in project variables and how they affect the utilization of construction technology
2:10 pm Exploring Different Roofing Systems to Discover the Ideal Fit to Optimize Your Data Center & Construction Lifecycle
Synopsis
- Reviewing the diversity of data center/mission critical roofing systems to understand which type of membrane is the best solution for each situation, environment, or budgetary requirement.
- Understanding the key role of roofing design configuration in the internal environment, with regard to thermal performance, to improve energy efficiency and HVAC optimization
- Communicating with and selecting the right commercial roofing manufacturer from the design phase throughout the lifecycle of your building i.e., modifications and rooftop units to successfully execute projects
2:25 pm Utilizing BIM to Coordinate Efforts on the Job Site & Improve Productivity
Synopsis
- Onboarding BIM personnel early to align information upfront so time isn’t wasted remodelling and re-coordinating efforts
- Using 3D and 4D modeling to sequence construction when materials are available to avoid scheduling restraints
- Identifying and eliminating mistakes before they occur to decrease risk upfront
3:05 pm Audience Discussion: Analyzing Stick Built vs Modular Construction to Compare Efficiencies & Associated Challenges for Each
Synopsis
- Evaluating the financial comparisons between modular and stick built to compare return on investment
- Determining how client success criteria can impact this decision: What is the criteria that typically aligns with the use of modular construction
- Understanding at the beginning of a project, how much work will be split between field and shop construction to plan resources and schedules accordingly
3:40 pm Afternoon Refreshments
Meeting Sustainability Goals
4:10 pm Delivering Power…Responsibly: The Future of Reduced Carbon Power Cable and Wire Systems
Synopsis
- Exploring Southwire Company’s portfolio of products and services for best in class construction execution
- Committing to sustainability and reliability of data center power cable and wire systems to reduce your carbon footprint and ensure operational excellence
- Understanding Southwire Company’s ESG and DEI vision for more a sustainable, equitable and ethical supply chain to assist our owner and contractor partners future state goals
4:40 pm Panel: Working Together to Achieve Sustainability & Carbon Neutrality Goals by 2030
Synopsis
- Understanding Owner ESG goals and how the AEC value chain can help to achieve them
- Aligning efforts of the AEC value chain to work cohesively as a partnership to achieve 2023 NetZero goals
- Understanding how sustainability efforts change across projects/portfolios to know what can be done to make Data Centers continuously more efficient