Supporting a Critical Load
Target TechnologyData CenterIncreases Capacity
By Diane M. Calabrese
Customers order. Vendors deliver.Information flows. A company grows asmore orders come in. It’s that simple. Atleast, it seems that simple.
Behind every flawless and transparent data system that carries information at the speed of light to drive commerce, there is a data center. A big retailer requires powerful and reliable computers to support its operations. 
Target® Corp. is one of the biggest retailers in the nation. So when Target needed to increase the capacity of its technology center, it had to do things simultaneously. First and foremost, Target had to add without taking away. Disruption to the power already moving through the data center had to be avoided.
Second, employees working in the data center could not be impeded in their activities. Their ability to continue to do their jobs was paramount.
“Any time you’re working on a live data center of this type, [it’s] a 7 x 24 x 365 operation,” says Jim Todd, Senior Project Manager for Ryan Companies US, Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota, the general contractor for the expansion of the Target technology center. Ryan Companies was also the general contractor for the initial build of the center.
There is one overriding challenge throughout an expansion where operations are ongoing and occupants are in place, which is “supporting the critical load,” explains Todd, and to do so “at all times.”
The expansion of a live data center is geared toward getting the job done without disruption. Parsons Electric LLC, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, served as a team member on the technology center expansion project. They worked closely with Ryan Companies, as well as with Hood-Patterson & Dewar (HP&D), Inc., Decatur, Georgia, another team member and the commissioning agent for the project, to achieve the objective of inconspicuous work while completing the task.
The Target project was “a real team approach,” says Daniel Parker, President of HP&D. “It worked very well.”
Starting with a MAP
Precautions were taken “every step of the way,” says Todd, to ensure the critical load was supported at all times. All procedures were written and reviewed with Ryan and Target, he explains. In every case, there was a “buy in” from everyone who might be affected at any juncture before any phase of work progressed.
The method and procedure (MAP) approach is essential to success, says Keith Rosdahl, Project Manager with Parsons Electric. It ensures tasks are thought through before they are tackled, and it keeps the owner completely informed about what is to be done and when. It also makes certain all the necessary tools are onsite before any work begins, which minimizes risk. 
“In all, over 125 electrical MAPs were written” among the more than 175 MAPs written total, says Rosdahl. In his role as Project Manager, Rosdahl was always available to get Ryan Companies the answers it needed to keep the job on track.
The technology data center project had to be compressed into a schedule that lasted from February to November 2004. Among the upgrades was one that doubled the existing generator plant in the facility.
This upgrade required the existing generator plant be taken off-line for more than two months. Therefore, from the start, the project team realized the best way to provide a failsafe environment was to install a temporary generator plant.
The temporary eight-megawatt generator plant was installed outside the building.
Parsons not only installed and maintained the temporary generators, but was also integral to the design and layout.
As it happened, during the interval of the project, the local utility had two outages, one of which lasted for more than 90 minutes. The temporary generator supported the critical load for the data center through both episodes.
The importance of having “absolutely no computer outages” cannot be overstated, says Dave Beghly, Group Manager for Target Technology Centers, Minneapolis, Minnesota. “This is a live production data center supporting Target Corporation computers. Parsons brought their knowledge of our business requirements,” an absolute necessity when working while the center was up and running.
Because Parsons had the “ability to put out detailed project plans, MAPs,” says Beghly, each step of the process could be scrutinized and confirmed before it was actually taken. The result was a smooth course for the entire project.
Upgrades
The existing generator plant was upgraded with the addition of three 2,000-kilowatt generators to the three existing 2,000-kilowatt generators. The expansion to the data center called for the addition of a new 2,160-kilowatt uninterruptible power supply (UPS) system.
Providing support for the critical load during the entire project required Parsons to develop solutions that were entirely reliable. By adding a bypass feeder between the existing UPS system and the new UPS, it was possible to transfer the critical load to the new UPS. “During the time this transfer was performed, the critical load was supported by one of the UPS systems at all times,” explains Rosdahl.
“The generator plant and the utility transfer controls are very sophisticated and complex,” says Parker, whose company, HP&D, played a pivotal role in designing testing procedures and criteria for commissioning. “Our challenge was to design and perform procedures that fully verify proper performance of the control system with no risk of impact to the facility critical loads,” he says. Indeed, says Todd, the size of the project was impressive. It required all involved to bring their expertise to the table.
Parsons Electric is a good example of the highly capable subs that Ryan Companies called to help it on the job. “Parsons is a little bit more than an electrical contractor,” Todd says. “Their staff is very talented [and] very pleasant to work with.”
There is reciprocity in that good feeling. “Parsons worked directly with the general contractor, mechanical contractor, engineers, and the owner,” explains Rosdahl, “providing design and budget assistance to the project as requested.”
