McMurdo Station IT&C Primary Operations Facility

The new IT&C Primary Ops Facility will serve as the primary data center facility for McMurdo Station and will house critical back-up emergency operations and communications functions as well as various shop and other related functions. The project includes the addition of a two-level Tier II data center and major renovations to BL004 at McMurdo Station, Antarctica, a new cold storage area and a skybridge tie-in to the future AIMs Core Facility. The new IT&C Primary Ops Facility will serve the needs of various stakeholders, including the US Antarctic Program, NOAA/NASA/JPSS and SPAWAR.

High performance design strategies include a drive-thru breezeway, to facilitate snow scouring, where the new data center wing attaches to the existing Building 004, a thermally insulating R-60/R-70 building envelope, upgrades and new construction to house a near-complete replacement of the heating, ventilation, power utilization, communications, and lighting systems as well new energy efficient heating and power services in the Data Center. The new Data Center includes general electrical normal and standby power, mechanical (HVAC and Plumbing), a multi-season, N+1 redundant cooling system, a modular (N+2 modular) UPS system for the Data Center rack and network administrative needs, a 65 kW MicroTurbine to supplement baseload power generation and an alternative diesel generator.