In so many ways, this year’s Yotta Conference in Las Vegas felt like a celebration of the way industrialized construction practices are transforming the data center industry. The growing impact of prefabrication and other industrialized techniques was everywhere you looked. In panels. In the Expo area. And on the main stage.
However, one example stood out to me that I believe was not only the highlight of the conference but also a gamechanger for our industry. It’s the UL 2755 certification framework that Schneider Electric worked with UL Solutions to achieve.
To understand its significance, a bit of context is important. Building, deploying and commissioning a facility’s power infrastructure is one of the most important steps in data center construction. It’s also one of the most time-consuming, which makes it a major opportunity for greater efficiency. Prefabricated power modules can dramatically accelerate this phase of construction, but rapid adoption of prefabricated power modules and other large, prefabricated assemblies had outpaced standards.
What the industry needed was a certification process that delivered certainty around quality, acceptance and speed of deployment. Schneider Electric partnered with UL Solutions and Compass to accomplish exactly that.
The result is UL 2755 certifications for Schneider’s prefabricated power skids. Rather than requiring each component of a skid to be evaluated and inspected on-site after delivery, UL 2755 provides a framework for these solutions to be certified as a standardized system, streamlining the process. Just as importantly, UL 2755 allows the certifications to be performed at the factory rather than on-site, which allows far more efficient deployment once the skid arrives at the worksite.
This initiative is delivering major benefits to Compass’ customers. It is another key milestone in how Compass has accelerated time-to-ready by months compared to the industry average of data center construction.
The impact will go far beyond our campuses, though. This work by Schneider, UL Solutions and Compass provides a framework for prefabricated power systems to be adopted even more widely and at a much larger scale by all data center companies. This is a major step forward in accelerating digital infrastructure for the global economy.
The iMasons Awards Ceremony was another highlight of the Yotta conference. It was so exciting to see Chris Crosby recognized by iMasons as one of the 10 people who have had the biggest impact on the digital infrastructure industry over the past decade. He is an extraordinary person to work with, and he has been a true leader in the adoption of industrialized construction practices for data centers. I feel blessed to work with the Compass team, which is so committed to innovation and serving the communities we work in.
I also want to thank Valerie Crafton for having me on her amazing podcast “Hands-On Heroes” while I was at Yotta. We had an opportunity to talk about how Compass’ 100-year campus approach and Class A Developer model make us aligned with the values and needs of the communities we are in. We also discussed the incredible impact of the MEI Data Center Pathway Program, which provides “new-collar” workers with a direct route into high-paying mechanical, electrical, and IT careers in an accelerated training program. Be sure to listen to that episode, which is out now.
