{"id":15229,"date":"2026-08-01T14:17:07","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T14:17:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insulation.org\/io\/?post_type=articles&p=15229"},"modified":"2026-09-01T14:25:25","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T14:25:25","slug":"data-centers-rely-on-mission-critical-outdoor-insulation","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/insulation.org\/io\/articles\/data-centers-rely-on-mission-critical-outdoor-insulation\/","title":{"rendered":"Data Centers Rely on Mission-Critical Outdoor Insulation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When you get right down to it, a data center is simply a building.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, when it comes to mechanical systems\u2014especially insulation\u2014they are anything but simple. While data centers share some infrastructure with other commercial buildings, including piping, ductwork, and chillers, the scale and performance requirements are exponentially larger, particularly outside the building envelope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Kent Gapen, Business Development for NIA member company Farwest Insulation Contracting in Arizona, put it, \u201cThe needs of a data center compared to, say, a hospital, are 10-fold. Maybe more.\u201d He added, \u201cIt\u2019s a building that is pretty basic and straightforward, but the pipe sizes and lengths and footages on a data center are phenomenal, and that\u2019s the challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For most people, the mention of a data center brings to mind indoor images of the rows and rooms full of machinery. The objective of operating a data center is no small undertaking. Because data centers often house real-time data processing for industries such as telecommunications, finance, and health care, it\u2019s critical to keep things running at an optimal level. There\u2019s a lot that goes into keeping all that technology running efficiently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

System failures can have massive consequences for businesses and consumers around the world, which means data centers need to be well planned and constructed. If machinery overheats or otherwise stops working, the consequences can be catastrophic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Removing excess heat and keeping temperatures steady is mission critical in a data center, which means lots of chillers and a whole lot of piping connecting everything. Much of that infrastructure is outside the data center, either on the roof or in an adjacent equipment yard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOn a hospital, for example, there are maybe four air-cooled chillers,\u201d Gapen said. \u201cAnd on a data center, we might have 54. It\u2019s so much more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chillers produce cooled water that circulates through a piping network to the data center floor. There, air handlers act as heat exchangers. Warm air from the servers passes over coils filled with chilled water, cooling the air before it is recirculated. The now-heated water returns to the chiller to be cooled again, often expelling heat to the atmosphere via outdoor cooling towers. Throughout this cycle, especially outdoors, maintaining water temperature is essential\u2014making insulation a critical component of system performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe see data centers working to maintain 70\u00b0 to 72\u00b0 [F] water year-round, inside or out,\u201d said Greg Newman, Vice President of Design Build, Mechanical Insulation, at Insulation Midwest in Minnesota. \u201cThat\u2019s a lot of insulation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knowing what type of insulation is best for each part of a data center project\u2014indoor, outdoor, underground, on piping or ductwork\u2014is important, and Newman said they generally require several different products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rudy Ruiz, Chief Operating Officer of Ruiz-Boyter Construction & Supplies, LLC in Texas, agreed, reiterating that data centers just need more of everything. \u201cAs compared to other buildings, there is a lot more piping on a data center,\u201d he said. \u201cThey need to cool all the units, so there is a lot more piping that goes through. And they need more water, more pipe to cool the system, and a lot more chillers to cool the water. It\u2019s simply the scale of the project that makes it different than other jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the requirement for \u201cmore of everything,\u201d depending on the geographic location and weather conditions, outdoor piping on data centers requires different things. In the Midwest where Newman works, for example, an installer might use heat tracing (or surface heating) in combination with fiber glass insulation to help prevent freezing; while for Gapen, in Arizona, 120\u00b0 [F] days can cause piping temperatures to rise quickly, so a thicker amount of insulation is required there to maintain temperature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weather conditions can also affect the work of insulating outdoors while a data center is under construction. It\u2019s no surprise that insulation contractors regularly check the weather forecast for their jobs. Because data center projects can take months to a year or more to complete, compared to a \u201ctypical\u201d building with outdoor insulation installed in weeks or even days, weather can be a big factor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consider these examples: In warm climates, worker safety\u2014and particularly hydration\u2014is crucial. If it\u2019s 120\u00b0 [F] degrees outside, working on an even hotter rooftop is tough. If rain is in the forecast, precautions are taken to cover any exposed insulation. In places where hailstorms are prevalent, getting the insulation covered with metal jacketing to help protect it from hail stones is important. Newman said hail is his worst enemy and has destroyed projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSnow loads are also terrible,\u201d Newman said of the [Midwest] area. \u201cWe go from rectangular to round ducts on the roofs here because of snow. And on these large-bore pipes for data centers, we use [pipe and tank] wrap.\u201d For smaller ducts, contractors have options such as PIR, polyiso, fiber glass pipe, and fiber glass pipe and tank wrap, as well as elastomerics and cellular glass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No matter the geographic location, these projects are no small feat to insulate, requiring an enormous amount of materials and a lot of labor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re building campuses. These are not just a building here or there, but campuses with 5 or 9 or 16 buildings on the project, and when the footprint of the roof of each might be 300,000 square feet,\u201d said Gapen. \u201cI\u2019ve got a set of new plans that calls for 84 chillers on the roof. It\u2019s huge! I\u2019ve got seven projects ongoing right now, and it\u2019s pretty amazing, the scope.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ultimately, insulating the exterior infrastructure of a data center is about more than protecting pipes and equipment. Outdoor insulation plays a critical role in maintaining precise temperatures, preventing energy loss, and shielding complex systems from extreme weather conditions. As data centers continue to grow in both size and importance, so does the need for well-designed, properly installed insulation systems, to ensure a data center\u2019s reliable performance, long-term efficiency, and the uninterrupted flow of data necessary for today\u2019s businesses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mechanical insulation is vital to data centers\u2019 reliable, efficient operations; and businesses in virtually all industries rely on their ability to keep up with the constant flow of information. Read about why and how outdoor insulation is mission critical for these facilities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":[632],"featured_media":0,"template":"","categories":[720,753],"class_list":["post-15229","articles","type-articles","status-publish","hentry","category-data-center","category-august-2026","author-kristen-white"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nData Centers Rely on Mission-Critical Outdoor Insulation - Insulation Outlook Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/insulation.org\/io\/articles\/data-centers-rely-on-mission-critical-outdoor-insulation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Data Centers Rely on Mission-Critical Outdoor Insulation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mechanical insulation is vital to data centers\u2019 reliable, efficient operations; and businesses in virtually all industries rely on their ability to keep up with the constant flow of information. 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