The article below came through to my LinkedIn news feed today. 

Ain’t too sure about ASHRAE recommending 22°C; as long as I can remember, ASHRAE recommendation has been 68.5°F (19.7°C) to 75°F (23.9°C) in the winter and from 75°F (23.9°C) to 80.5°F (26.9°C) in the summer.

When I first joined a consultancy in Adelaide, I challenged the 22°C designed temperature, it was an easy fix as I was the principal engineer no one argued; we changed subsequent designs to 24°C.

In 2009, I challenged the then conventional wisdom for data centres design temperature of 18°C, I proposed 27°C, needless to say, I lost. This was despite equipment suppliers advised that it’s was the heat rejection that was more critical than the temperature. So be it 18°C it was. Fast forward to 2019, the design temperature is as high as 30°C!

Two weeks back, I submitted a technical advisory on behalf of my client challenging 22.5°C for student accommodation, guess what 22.5°C it shall be!

The last three projects I was involved in have one common problem, not enough juice to run the cooling system at peak condition. So are we suppose to accept brown and black-out the norm moving forward into the future?

It’s good that article like this highlight the misplaced wisdom we encounter all the time.