Power House is more than just a pretty face.
The modern building must be secure and highly redundant to ensure that businesses can function in adverse conditions.
Power House was designed to offer its tenants the most efficient and highly redundant office building in Bermuda. Incorporating an array of N+1 redundancy features normally only found in data centres, Power House has established a new standard for buildings in Bermuda.
Building Features
High impact, energy efficient glass
The most noticeable design element of Power house is the cool clear glass. The glass used in Power House is a revolutionary new solar control low-E glass that combines the clear appearance of transparent glass with an unprecedented combination of solar control and light transmittance. This highly engineered glass allows the natural light in providing a pleasing work environment, while reflecting the heat and UV rays to the exterior of the building. The glass units on all floors are
insulated and laminated to meet Dade County (Florida) impact standards providing a more secure environment during wind storms.
2 redundant generators
Simply having a generator in a building does not guaranty its availability when you need it. Generators require maintenance; can fail to start; or can experience a failure during operation. Experiences during both Hurricane Fabian and the Belco Island-wide power failure of 2005 demonstrated this does occur.
To help ensure that Power House has generation capacity when required, it has been designed with two redundant generators (N+1). The electrical switching equipment in Power House will monitor the condition of the external power and the power coming from an on-line generator. Should one generator not produce sufficient power, the second generator will automatically come on-line. Power House has also
incorporated critical passive and active design features to prevent electrical interfere in the building while the generator is operating.
Another critical consideration with generators is fuel capacity. Fuel in Bermuda is stored at either end of the island and delivered by tanker truck by crossing several bridges. If fuel delivery is interrupted such as occurred in Hurricane Fabian, Power House should be able to operate for a minimum of one week without fuel delivery.
UPS power
The perception that all buildings designed with generators are equal is an inaccurate assumption. A generator is a stand-alone device, which is designed to switch on in the event of a power failure. Unfortunately in a building with only a generator, when city power fails, whatever the employee is working on at that moment may be lost.
To reduce the potential for power and data loss, Power House has been designed with a goal of providing 100% UPS power to all standard office systems. During the generator switch-over time, power should remain continuous to the desktop and helping prevent data loss at the desk top. The UPS system also serves as a power conditioning system, producing clean uninterrupted power to all systems extending computer systems life and increasing reliability.
Redundant A/C units
To reduce the potential for the loss of A/C, Power House utilizes a redundant A/C systems design. Should one A/C unit fail, or be taken off line for maintenance, the remaining systems should be sufficient to maintain cooling for the building.
Environment and engineering monitoring
Power House has been designed with a state-of-the-art computer based building environmental management system (EMS) to monitor the building’s
environment and engineering systems. The EMS helps ensure the buildings engineering systems are functioning to specification.
Multiple telecommunications access points
There are two entry points (N+1) for telecommunications lines into Power House. One set of lines enters into the front of the building and another set of lines through the rear of the building. This is allows tenants to incorporate a redundant design into their telecommunications facilities, helping prevent potential costly communications interruptions.
Redundant telecommunications systems
There are multiple telecommunications carriers providing services to Power House.
Raised Access Floor for easy cable and power access
Raised access flooring will provide cost savings to tenants due to the easier access to power and computer wiring. This will pay dividends to the tenants during fit-out and as offices are redesigned over time.
