Should Data Center Owners be Afraid of Air-side Economizer Use? – A Review of ASHRAE TC 9.9 White Paper titled Gaseous and Particulate Contamination Guidelines for Data Centers

ASHRAE Technical Committee (TC) 9.9 Mission Critical Facilities, Technology Spaces, and Electronic Equipment published a white paper in 2009 entitled Gaseous and Particulate Contamination Guidelines for Data Centers. That paper has raised concerns with data center designers and operators by stating that there is a recent increase in IT equipment failures associated with airborne pollutants. While this reliability concern is an important subject, a casual interpretation of the white paper may cause an unwarranted high level of concern for managers of operating data centers in the U.S. The white paper contains a number of statements and recommendations that are not well supported by the white paper or its references. There is a need for additional research on this subject to identify where and when airborne pollutants may be a problem and to develop solutions if the potential for equipment failure is identified. The Technical Committee is planning some research to determine how airborne pollutants accelerate corrosion rates in various data centers, however this work has not yet been authorized. At present, the conclusions of the ASHRAE paper draw attention to the need for future research on this important subject, however a rise in gaseous contamination failures due to the use of air-side economizers has not been established.