Tech Woes Not Slowing Market for Data Centers and Their Conduit
Chuck Ross
If you’ve been following business headlines (or your 401K’s monthly statements), you’ve likely heard about a lot of layoffs and other cost-cutting measures at some of the biggest tech companies. After flying high during the pandemic, when many of us were living significant parts of our lives online, these firms are finding they might have been overly optimistic that the growth would continue once Covid’s worst days had passed. But the new attention to budgets isn’t cutting into data center construction, according to those who follow the market, as the woes of a few big tech leaders isn’t slowing are adoption of services and devices that draw on data center capabilities. In other words, you might be dropping your Disney+ account to catch up on Peacock’s “Yellowstone,” but that doesn’t mean you’re spending any less time streaming content to your smart TV.
Market research firm Arizton estimated last August that total data center square footage will hit 20.07 million sq. ft. by the end of 2027, up from 16.62 million sq. ft. at the end of 2021. That 20% growth over five years will mean a lot of work for electrical contractors – and a lot of new conduit being pulled to provide power to servers. Brock Klein, director of sales and marketing for conduit maker Electri-Flex, says liquid-tight products are the most frequently used in data projects with raised-floor designs. Jacket color and material often lead the list of specification requirements his company receives from contractors working in the industry.
“The color is important for circuitry identification,” he said. The plenum under raised floors can be filled with a nest of cable and conduit, so being able to pick out exactly which conduit is delivering power can be useful in future troubleshooting and renovation efforts. “The most used color is Computer Blue, but a variety of colors are used to differentiate where and what the conduit might be connecting to.”
He adds that environmental concerns now are driving new attention to the material content of conduit jackets, regardless of color, with many specifiers moving to polyurethane and away from traditional PVC. “This jacket makes the product halogen-free, low-smoke and low-toxicity,” Klein says. “This provides a safer option to reduce the possibility of halogen gases being released from the product in the confined space of a data center room or being distributed through the ventilation systems.
Market research firm Arizton estimated last August that total data center square footage will hit 20.07 million sq. ft. by the end of 2027, up from 16.62 million sq. ft. at the end of 2021. That 20% growth over five years will mean a lot of work for electrical contractors – and a lot of new conduit being pulled to provide power to servers. Brock Klein, director of sales and marketing for conduit maker Electri-Flex, says liquid-tight products are the most frequently used in data projects with raised-floor designs. Jacket color and material often lead the list of specification requirements his company receives from contractors working in the industry.
“The color is important for circuitry identification,” he said. The plenum under raised floors can be filled with a nest of cable and conduit, so being able to pick out exactly which conduit is delivering power can be useful in future troubleshooting and renovation efforts. “The most used color is Computer Blue, but a variety of colors are used to differentiate where and what the conduit might be connecting to.”
He adds that environmental concerns now are driving new attention to the material content of conduit jackets, regardless of color, with many specifiers moving to polyurethane and away from traditional PVC. “This jacket makes the product halogen-free, low-smoke and low-toxicity,” Klein says. “This provides a safer option to reduce the possibility of halogen gases being released from the product in the confined space of a data center room or being distributed through the ventilation systems.
Photo courtesy of Electri-Flex
