Leading Edge Design Group

Leading Edge Design Group Helps Advance New England’s Most Energy Efficient Data Center and Colocation Facility -

ENFIELD, NH – February 7, 2012 – Leading Edge Design Group, a leading provider of data center design services, announced today that Tech Vault, Inc. has achieved LEED Silver certification through the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program, a voluntary rating system for energy efficient buildings overseen by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). Tech Vault, Inc. is a provider of collocation, hosting, and managed services and is proud to be Vermont's first commercial-grade, LEED certified data center. Leading Edge Design Group designed Tech Vault’s data center and led the LEED certification strategy and execution.

“Our partnership with Leading Edge Design Group was critical to our business and certification success,” said Steve Loyer, President, of Tech Vault. “Renovating an existing facility, Vermont’s cooler climate, generous utility incentives and attaining LEED certification were key factors in our design and implementation and we simply could not have done it without the great team of professionals at Leading Edge Design Group.”

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In 2011 we completed several renovation projects in live data centers, meaning that the construction was going on within active data center space and while IT equipment remained operational.  These active renovations always prove to be equally challenging and rewarding.  An unfortunate requirement associated with many active renovations is the need for a data center shutdown at some point during the construction process.  A shutdown may be required for a variety of reasons and can impact some or all systems in the data center.  Simple examples are:

• In an expansion or reconfiguration, an IT equipment shutdown may occur in order to relocate racks and IT equipment into new expansion areas, or into different row or density configurations. An example is a new high density “zone” with updated power, cooling, and telecommunications infrastructure could be created to support virtualized loads.  Once the “zone” is commissioned, IT equipment needs to be relocated, which may require a shutdown.
• A chiller plant shutdown may occur to increase capacity, whether in total tons, pipe sizing, etc
• An electrical shutdown may be necessary to make final connections to the main building switchgear.

Given the implications of a shutdown, most customers choose to schedule these events during the least impactful times possible, and for many organizations this happens to be the week between Christmas and New Years.  For those in the data center industry, “holiday” season is many times synonymous with “shutdown” season. 

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Energy Efficient and Green Priorities Result in Utility Company Rebates

Data centers place major strains on a building’s electricity demand, a fact not surprising to electrical professionals working in the industry. Modern facilities require significant cooling, heating, lighting, and electrical power to run racks of high density servers all day, every day. Though reducing a data center’s energy consumption is no simple task, it is a vital one: data centers can consume up to 100 times more energy per square foot than standard office buildings, and the growing demand for data center services will require continued innovation in energy reliability and efficiency. Read full article: IEC Insights Sept-Oct.pdf (599.60 kb)

LEDG Principal Todd Boucher to Be Honored at the White House

ENFIELD, NH – November 17, 2011 – Leading Edge Design Group, a leading provider of data center design and LED lighting and wireless control services, announced today that Todd Boucher, Principal, has been named to the Empact100 list of the country’s top young entrepreneurs and will be recognized at the White House in Washington, D.C. on November 17. He will be honored for his accomplishments and positive influence on the American economy. The Empact100 list has been created by Empact, in partnership with the Kauffman Foundation, Opportunity International, Global Entrepreneurship Week, and the Startup America Partnership.
The list was announced on November 3rd and candidates were judged based solely on reported revenue. Nominations were open to U.S. based individuals or companies that fulfilled the requirements of having all founders 30 years or younger as of December 30, 2011, and reported revenue over $100,000 in 2010, or 2011 to date.

“I am honored for the opportunity to be recognized on the Empact100 alongside so many successful young entrepreneurs and thankful to our team at Leading Edge Design Group for the expertise, dedication, and passion they bring to our organization.” said Todd Boucher, Principal Leading Edge Design Group. “Our innovative solutions for data centers, lighting, and wireless controls have helped customers in all industries – higher education, healthcare, manufacturing, biotech, retail, banking, public sector, and more – realize significant energy savings, decrease operational costs, and achieve sustainability goals and we look forward to our ongoing collaboration with them in an effort to reduce the environmental impact of their operations.”

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ENFIELD, NH –November 8, 2011 – Leading Edge Design Group, a leading provider of data center design services, announced today the completion of the University of New Hampshire Research Computing and Instrumentation Center (UNH RCI) data center renovation.  Leading Edge Design Group’s innovative design dramatically improved the center’s high performance computing power, optimized its footprint and expansion capabilities, and improved the facility’s overall energy efficiency by saving an estimated 525,000 kWh per year.  In addition, the creative construction sequencing plan developed by Leading Edge Design Group allowed the UNH RCI to complete the complex renovation effort while the data center remained online and operational. 
“For over four years it was clear to me that our 25 year old data center was in dire need of renovations,” said Patrick Messer, Director, UNH Research Computing and Instrumentation Center. “Leading Edge Design Group presented and subsequently executed a plan that exceeded my expectations delivering a reliable, energy efficient data center with nearly 40% more floor space.”

The University of New Hampshire Research Computing and Instrumentation Center will provide information technology support for the university’s sponsored research community, serve as an alternative to the outsourcing of non-research information technology needs, and foster collaboration among higher education, industry, and government to create innovative technologies to address important social, environmental, and economic needs.
The UNH RCI also supports the New Hampshire Innovation Research Center created by the New Hampshire legislature for the purpose of providing a mechanism to increase collaboration between New Hampshire businesses and university-based research to promote scientific research, engineering, and associated marketing research and technology support for the purpose of creating high quality jobs.

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Enfield, NH - October 21, 2011 - The team at Leading Edge Design Group will be attending NH's Top 100 Private Companies Reception on Monday, October 24, were they will be recognized as New Hampshire's Top Company to Watch for 2011. The event, taking place at Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord, NH from 5 - 7 PM, will feature prominent New Hampshire business leaders from across the state coming together to celebrate the achievements of Business NH Magazine's Top 100 Private Companies, Five Fastest Growing Companies, and 10 Companies to Watch.

Read more about LEDG's achievements as the Top Company to Watch for 2011.

ENFIELD, NH – September 7, 2011 – Leading Edge Design Group, a leading provider of data center design and LED lighting and wireless control services, has earned the #1 ranking in Business NH Magazine’s “10 to Watch” list. The state’s leading business publication featured New Hampshire’s fastest growing organizations in their September 2011 issue. Highlights include Leading Edge Design Group achieving a 451% three-year average growth rate and an excellent niche market position to continue a 20-30% growth rate year over year.

Notable Leading Edge Design Group customers include Varian Semiconductor, University of New Hampshire, Tech Vault, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, City Market, FairPoint Communications, and the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport.

“We are very excited to be recognized as the top “10 to Watch” company in New Hampshire,” said Todd Boucher, Principal, Leading Edge Design Group. “Most importantly, we are extremely grateful to all of the loyal customers that put their trust in our data center and lighting service offerings.  We feel fortunate for the opportunity to work with such progressive organizations and we will continue to diligently pursue and develop innovative solutions that will help them reduce energy consumption and achieve long-term sustainability.” 

Leading Edge Design Group will be recognized at the New Hampshire Top 100 Private Companies reception. The event will take place October 24, 2011, at the Capital Center for the Arts in Concord, NH.

download the Press Release (pdf) LEDG 10toWatch PR 9 7 11.pdf (66.25 kb)

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Over the past year we have seen over a 30% increase in the number of customers expressing interest in obtaining a LEED Certification for their new data center build out or renovation.  This change is illustrative of the continued integration of energy efficiency and environmental sustainability into data center design requirements, but moreover presents a new challenge for owners undertaking the site selection process.

While traditional priorities in a site selection process – power redundancy, natural disaster protection, cheap energy costs, etc – will never change, the impact of sustainability has been steadily increasing.  For example, organizations like The Green Grid publish ‘free cooling’ maps, helping owners understand which geographic regions will allow them to maximize economizer usage throughout the year.  In addition, organizations that have set LEED certification goals must take into consideration how proposed sites will impact their overall LEED scorecard. 

Under the LEED 2009 Commercial Interiors rating system, a project must successfully obtain a minimum of 50 points (out of a total 110 total available points) to achieve a LEED Silver designation.  While a target of less than 50% of the total available points may seem marginal, anyone who has completed the LEED process knows and understands how challenging it can be to earn 50 points, how every point becomes critical, and why site selection is an integral part of achieving LEED certifications. 

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In makes economic sense to use timers or occupancy / vacancy sensors in public restrooms. There is no need for the lights to be on in an unoccupied space. However there are problems when these technologies are combined with energy efficient fluorescent lights.

Fluorescent lights can take up to two minutes to reach full brightness. In many cases by the time the light has properly illuminated the space it is no longer occupied. This could create a safety concern in a public restroom. Also the constant on off cycling of the light reduces the life of the light creating a maintenance issue. Many fluorescent lighting manufactures recommend a minimum on time of thirty minutes in order to maintain lamp life.

The solution in these applications is LED. Light emitting diodes reach full brightness instantly and the on off cycling of a motion sensor increases their useable life. The combination of a properly placed intelligent sensor and a LED light fixture in a public restroom will maximize both efficiency and safety while eliminating any maintenance issues for many years (Usually the entire career of the maintenance staff).

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ENFIELD, NH – July 12, 2011 – Leading Edge Design Group, a leading provider of data center design services, announced today their customer, Varian Semiconductor, has received a $60,000 National Grid incentive for data center energy efficiency. Varian recently completed the next-generation data center, which supports enterprise IT operations from their Gloucester, MA headquarters. The data center design and construction administration was provided by Leading Edge Design Group who worked collaboratively with National Grid to provide the data center financing incentives to achieve ROI sooner.

“Customer interest in improving efficiency for both new and existing facilities that support data processing equipment is growing remarkably,” said Fran Boucher, Commercial Energy Efficiency, National Grid. “The Varian project was an ideal opportunity for National Grid to work with a customer and provide efficiency incentives to make this project even more cost effective.”

The new Varian Semiconductor data center includes a modular design and a POD-based layout for the whitespace, enabling Varian to maximize rack densities and incrementally implement new systems without downtime.  To maximize efficiency, the data center uses a chilled-water infrastructure with substantial free-cooling capabilities and variable-speed In Row Cooling.  By raising the supply air temperatures in the data center, Varian is recognizing over 100,000kWh per year of free cooling. 

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