A Renaissance in the Sprinklered Data Center

Through an apparent conflagration of forces, sprinklers are being specified in more and more data centers. These forces include the cost of gaseous clean-agent suppression, an increase in the physical size of colocation data centers, and the implementation of reliable fire detection and communications systems. The sprinklers being specified often are not dry-pipe, pre-action sprinklers but good old-fashioned wet-pipe systems, which were frowned upon in the past. Wet-pipe sprinklers seem to be winning against pre-action systems because of a belief that a concealed sprinkler head offers the best balance of reliability, performance and cost benefit over the system’s life. These forces are strongest in the mega data centers, where the capital expense of a multi-million-dollar, clean-agent system and the risk of a million-dollar false dump can’t be tolerated. The use of traditional sprinklers places more responsibility on very early warning fire detection systems, but it appears that the fire community thinks ASD is up to the job.