Premise | Scope | Constraints | Deliverables | Submission | Timeline
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Premise
A university in Northern Virginia plans to expand its campus data center to support artificial intelligence research, high-performance computing, and regional academic partnerships. The existing facility has 5 MW of IT capacity, and the proposed expansion will increase total IT capacity to 20 MW within five years.
The existing data center operates at an average IT load of approximately 4 MW, with a PUE of 1.45 and a WUE of 1.5 L/kWh. Following the expansion, the average IT load is projected to reach 15 MW.
This growth would place additional pressure on an already constrained electric grid and municipal water system. Summer peak-demand limitations, population growth, periodic drought conditions, and more extreme weather make continuation of the existing cooling approach increasingly difficult.
At the same time, the university cannot compromise data center reliability. The facility specif must maintain continuous cooling during high-temperature conditions, water-use restrictions, utility demand-response events, rapidly changing AI workloads, and equipment failures..
Scope
Common Requirements
All teams (max of three team members) shall:
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Cost calculations shall be based on the provided operating profile with a 15 MW annual average and a 20 MW maximum capacity
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Evaluate one required baseline and one proposed alternative.
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Use provided weather, IT-load, equipment-performance, utility-rate, carbon and water data.
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Calculate annual energy, potable-water use, PUE, WUE, peak demand, carbon and operating cost.
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Evaluate normal operation plus two critical scenarios.
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Recommend one cooling and control strategy.
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Submit a concise report and deliver a short presentation.
Teams are not expected to prepare construction documents, select specific vendors, develop detailed piping layouts, or perform computational fluid dynamics.
Required Cooling Alternatives
1. Dry Cooling
Heat is rejected to outdoor air without evaporative water consumption.
The system may include:
The model shall determine when outdoor conditions permit direct dry cooling and when mechanical cooling is required.
2. Evaporative Cooling
Heat is rejected primarily through evaporation.
The system may include:
The model shall calculate:
3. Hybrid Cooling
Heat is rejected using a combination of dry and evaporative operation.
The system may include:
The hybrid system should operate dry whenever practical and use water only when the associated reduction in energy use, peak demand, or equipment capacity justifies it.
Required Evaluation Matrix
Each team shall evaluate a minimum of Six cases:
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Cooling alternative
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30°C supply
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40°C supply
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Dry cooling
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Required
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Required
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Evaporative cooling
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Required
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Required
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Hybrid cooling
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Required
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Required
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A constant 22°F (12.2C) facility-water temperature differential should be used, resulting in return temperatures of 42°C, 52°C respectively.
Required Excel Model Outputs
For each of the nine cases, the model shall report:
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Annual cooling energy
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Peak cooling electrical demand
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Annual potable-water consumption
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Dry-cooling operating hours
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Economizer operating hours
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Adiabatic or evaporative operating hours
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Mechanical-cooling operating hours
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Annual energy cost
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Annual water and sewer cost
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Total annual operating cost
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Total Operational Carbon emissions
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PUE
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WUE_site and WUE_source (including water consumption related to upstream electrical generation)
The model shall identify:
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The lowest-energy alternative
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The lowest-water alternative
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The lowest-cost alternative
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The lowest carbon emissions
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The recommended overall solution
Workbook Organization
To make judging easier, the Excel workbook should use standardized tabs:
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Instructions
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Input Data
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Weather Bins or 8760 Weather
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IT Load
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Dry Cooling
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Evaporative Cooling
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Hybrid Cooling
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Energy–Water Comparison
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Executive Dashboard
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Assumptions and References
The final dashboard should present the nine cases on a single energy–water comparison chart. Teams should explain why their recommended solution provides the best balance rather than simply selecting the case with the lowest energy or lowest water use.
Bachelor’s teams use weather bins to choose a better system strategy. Graduate teams use 8,760-hour analysis to determine how that system should operate.
Bachelor students’ Level — Weather-Bin Analysis
Required work
Bachelor’s teams shall compare:
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Baseline: Conventional water-cooled chiller plant
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Proposed alternative: One selected water-saving or energy-saving strategy
Possible alternatives include:
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Hybrid heat rejection
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Dry cooling
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Higher-temperature chilled water
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Improved cooling-tower water management
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Non-potable water use
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Waterside economization
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Simplified control optimization
Teams shall use a provided spreadsheet containing coincident dry-bulb temperature, wet-bulb temperature, IT load and annual operating hours.
Required calculations
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Chiller energy
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Pump energy
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Cooling-tower or dry-cooler fan energy
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Cooling-tower evaporation and blowdown
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Annual facility energy
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Peak cooling demand
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PUE and WUE
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Potable-water consumption
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Annual energy and water cost
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Carbon emissions
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Simple payback
Required scenarios
The reliability analysis may be qualitative with supporting capacity calculations.
Deliverables
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Completed spreadsheet model
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One system schematic
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One-page comparison dashboard
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Technical report of approximately 6–8 pages
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Seven-minute presentation
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Four-minute question-and-answer period
Graduate students’ — 8,760-Hour Analysis
Required work
Graduate teams shall compare:
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Baseline: Provided rule-based chiller-plant sequence
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Proposed strategy: One improved hourly supervisory-control strategy
The proposed strategy may optimize:
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Chiller staging
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CHW supply temperature
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Condenser-water temperature
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Pump speed
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Cooling-tower fan operation
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Economizer operation
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Thermal storage operation
Teams should optimize no more than three control variables.
A functioning starter model or modeling framework should be provided. Students should improve and analyze the model rather than build the entire simulation platform from the beginning.
Required calculations
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Hourly cooling-system energy
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Hourly potable-water consumption
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Annual PUE and WUE
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Peak electrical demand
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Annual utility cost
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Carbon emissions
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Monthly energy and water profiles
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Baseline-versus-proposed performance
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One sensitivity analysis
Required scenarios
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Normal 8,760-hour operation
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One combined stress scenario, such as a summer grid emergency with restricted water availability
Detailed equipment-failure simulation, future climate modeling and formal uncertainty analysis should be optional bonus work.
AI requirement
AI or machine learning should be optional, not mandatory. A well-designed optimization or supervisory-control method should receive equal consideration.
If AI is used, students only need to explain:
Deliverables
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Executable hourly model
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Brief assumptions and data dictionary
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One system/control diagram
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One-page results dashboard
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Technical report of approximately 8–10 pages
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Ten-minute presentation
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Four-minute question-and-answer period
Contraints
Resources (energy and water) to build will be limited, so the design should limit water consumption as much as possible.
Deliverables
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Cover sheet
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Listing of team members and advisors
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Table of contents
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Executive Summary (one page)
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Calculation or Simulation Model
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References and Appendices
Submission
Teams must consist of two to three students with each team member's name and school affiliation listed on the title page of the submission. Teams can consult industry professionals, such as local ASHRAE chapter members, or faculty advisors for mentorship and advice. However, all work, calculations, drawings, etc. that are presented in the final submission shall be generated exclusively by team members.
Entries must be submitted electronically by Dec 15, 2026 by uploading the entry to the ASHRAE Society FTP site established for this purpose. Only teams who register will receive the FTP site information, so please register at least 30 days prior to this date to allow for processing. All documents must be delivered in PDF format and should be clearly readable in black and white print.
Timeline
What is the Evaluation Time Schedule?
There will be three levels of evaluation. Evaluators at all levels will judge the design project reports, not only for content, but also for compliance with the competition rules.
Oct. 15, 2026
Only teams who pre-register will get the FTP site information emailed to them.
Dec 15, 2026
Entries must be submitted electronically by this date by uploading the entry to the ASHRAE Society FTP site established for this purpose. Only teams who register will get the FTP site information emailed to them, so please register by November 15 to allow for processing. Late submissions will not be accepted so all teams must have their submission uploaded by 11:59pm EDT on December 15, 2026.
Only ASHRAE chapters with registered teams will have the FTP site emailed to them as well. Teams that do not have a local chapter are required to adhere to this same deadline. Your entry will be evaluated by the closest chapter to your school or your Regional Vice-Chair (RVC) for Student Activities.
January 15, 2027
Deadline for local ASHRAE Chapters to forward their selection of the best entry in each category to the Student Activities Regional Vice Chair (RVC). Chapters are to download the necessary entries from the ASHRAE FTP site for local judging. FTP site information is only distributed to those chapters that have teams registered to participate in the competition.
Once your selection is made simply email the names of the winning entries to your RVC with a copy to JMcCray@ashrae.org and amartinez@ashrae.org by the deadline above.
If applicable, chapters should ALSO nominate a "rising star" as well. The Rising Star must be a school that does not qualify for the regional or Society competition but is a quality entry and the school has not had a winning entry in the previous three years.
March 3-5, 2027
At the topical conference, society level competition under the direction of the Student Activities Design Competition Subcommittee will complete evaluation of Society level entries, and will select first, second, and third place winners in each category. In order to encourage additional schools to participate in the competition, a "Rising Star" winner will be chosen within each category from among those schools that have not had a winning entry in the previous three years.
Please Note: The Society level of the competition is conducted during a conference session level.
Prizes
Awards will be presented to the winners at the 2027 ASHRAE Topical Data Center Conference to be held in Dallas, TX United States of America as follows:
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1st place
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2nd place
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3rd place
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Rising Star
In conjunction with the 2028 ASHRAE Winter Meeting, members of the winning teams will be invited to meet with ASHRAE’s Executive Committee.
First Place: The entire team will receive free transportation and two nights’ lodging for (capped at $5,000) to attend the 2028 ASHRAE Winter Meeting where the award will be presented at the ASHRAE Plenary, including a plaque, and recognition in Insights
Second Place: One representative from the team will receive free transportation, two nights' lodging at the 2028 ASHRAE Winter Meeting where the award will be presented at the ASHRAE Student Program, including a certificate, and recognition in Insights
Third Place: One representative from the team will receive free transportation at the 2028 ASHRAE Winter Meeting where the award will be presented at the ASHRAE Student Program, including a certificate, and recognition in Insights.
Rising Star: Include a certificate, and recognition in Insights
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