Following the full deliberation of the judging panel, DCD has announced the winners of the annual DCD Awards , celebrating the industry’s best data center projects and most talented people.
Due to pandemic restrictions, this year there has been no physical gala ceremony. Instead, DCD put on a glittering virtual event, bringing the razzamatazz to screens round the world. If anything, these Awards have been more global than ever!
The finalists were selected by an independent panel of data center experts from hundreds of entries, submitted by contestants from across the world.
Click here to see the names of all the finalists .
Edge Data Center Project of the Year
Winner: DartPoints
This award recognizes unique and strategic approaches to housing IT at the edge that can act as an exemplar to the wider industry.
DartPoints collaborated with broadband, content and infrastructure providers, local networks and municipalities to aggregate networks and create the Eastern Iowa carrier-neutral interconnection point. The project provided enhanced quality and performance for residents WFH needs, bridging the digital divide with collaboration and innovation.
Enterprise Data Center Design Award
Winner: OCP Group
In collaboration with Jacobs Engineering Group
This award recognizes innovation in data center design within the enterprise space, Often referred to as on-premise data centers, they make up a large part of the global data center inventory.
Located at the Techpark of the Green City of Mohammed VI, the largest solar energy research site in Africa, this new Tier III/IV data center provides world class infrastructure serving Morocco and the African continent. It brings great flexibility to OCP, their customers and partners specializing in IT services and cloud computing solutions.
Multi Tenant Data Center Design Award
Winner: EcoDataCenter
In collaboration with Total Data Center Solutions
This award recognizes innovation in greenfield and brownfield data center design within the faced paced colocation sector.
This unique facility from EcoDataCenter is climate positive - actively supporting carbon reduction. Every aspect of the design, construction and operation considers that as the main priority. The radical construction materials were critical in achieving a low carbon footprint for the site and contributing to the sustainable design.
Category sponsor: Schneider Electric
Hyperscale Data Center Innovation Award
Winner: Facebook
In collaboration with Cundall, Fjernvarme Fyn
This award recognizes original designs or technological solutions within the hyperscale data center segment that will benefit the wider data center community
The Odense Data Center is one of the most advanced, energy-efficient data centers in the world. It uses innovative cooling, achieving a PUE of 1.12 (target design value), and is supported by 100% renewable wind energy. The recently announced expansion will also heat 11,000 local homes.
Category sponsor: Munters
Energy Smart Award
Winner: Microsoft
In collaboration with Power Innovations
This award recognizes the world’s most energy-aware and innovative approaches to building sustainable digital infrastructure.
This innovative project tested generators composed of hydrogen-powered fuel cells rather than traditional diesel equivalents. The resulting system responded to sudden load shifts, ran very quiet, and emitted only warm water vapor as exhaust. A 48-hour duration test showed the fuel cells, originally designed for use in automobiles, could perform the technical requirements of the generator task, pointing towards a smarter energy future.
Category sponsor: Starline
Mission Critical Tech Innovation Award
Winner: Enel X
In collaboration with Digital Realty
This award recognizes cutting-edge technology solutions from the world of critical power, cooling tech, monitoring and operational management systems.
Digital Realty has innovated the way it consumes energy to support the Australian electricity grid and ensure reliability. The two Australian data centers are available to switch over to their UPS and backup generation, allowing aditional capacity as part of a Virtual Power Plant (VPP), building resilience and reducing pressure on the utility.
Category sponsor: CBRE Data Centre Solutions
Data Center Operations Team of the Year
Winner: Salute Mission Critical
In association with Cloudflare
This award recognizes teams convened for a special task, at any stage in the data center life cycle, which goes above and beyond day-to-day operations.
To meet demand, Cloudflare turned to Salute Mission Critical to provide skilled personnel to help deploy, maintain, manage and secure their data centers. Salute's workforce development strategy - upskilling military veterans provides the advantage of building a culture that has been tested in the most adverse environments and bridges the industry's growing skills gap.
Category sponsor: DCPRO
Data Center Construction Team of the Year
Winner: CyrusOne
In collaboration with Mercury Engineering
This award is about recognizing the commitment and initiative shown by teams that deliver something better than expected.
CyrusOne Frankfurt III (FF3) is a brand-new purpose-built data center covering 11,500 sq m (123,786 sq ft) at an ultra low PUE. It provides secure and resilient data center solutions within a key business hub.
Young Mission Critical Engineer of the Year
Winner: Vinodhkumar Sampathkumar, Cundall
This award recognizes the best of the next generation of mission-critical engineer community needs a new generation
Vinodhkumar has worked on numerous 20-200 MW data centers developing solutions for maximum uptime, effective space utilization and reduced carbon footprint. He leads and supports projects from concept design stages through to construction.
Public Vote: Data Center Architecture Award
Winner: Yotta Infrastructure, Mumbai
This year's public vote category recognizes a data center that achieved a new level of design, so it doesn't just do the job, but it looks great as well.
Hundreds of votes were cast worldwide to determine the winner of this Award.
Category sponsor: Quality Uptime Services
Outstanding Contribution to the Data Center Industry
Winner: Peter M. Curtis
Critical infrastructure operations safety standards have been part of Peter M. Curtis’ DNA since his early teen years when he managed complex medical equipment for his ailing sibling.
Surviving 9/11 then propelled Peter M. Curtis to focus his 30 years’ experience in the mission-critical engineering industry to design and implement tools to protect critical infrastructure and public safety by establishing the best practices and standards for facility professionals.
Since that day, he has devoted himself to the protection of critical infrastructure and to the defense of public safety and our country’s assets.
Professor at the New York Institute of Technology and Marist College, Curtis is the founder of PMC Group One and author of "Maintaining Mission Critical Systems in a 24/7 Environment."
Category sponsor: Mercury Engineering
A full breakdown of the awards will be in the next issue of DCD Magazine. Subscribe for free today:
