Ministry of Government Services New Data Centre

The Ministry of Government Services (“MGS”) New Data Centre project is a vital part of the Government of Ontario’s plan to ensure its technology systems are robust, reliable and responsive to current and future needs.

The New Data Centre is a 230,000 ft², enterprise level, Tier IV highly redundant, and highly secure facility which is intended to support the information systems needs and requirements of the Government of Ontario. The primary objective of the facility is to improve overall data centre service quality, enabling the Ministry of Government Services to provide client-focused, integrated, accessible and cost-effective services.

Construction of the facility was completed on time and within budget in March 2010, after a 23-month construction period. The facility is now operational and employs 60 people on a full-time basis, with a long-term plan to be fully operational with 150 employees.

Design features

Green design

The New Data Centre is a green facility designed for resource efficiency and cost effectiveness. Indoor air quality, sustainability and energy efficiency were all key factors in the design of the facility. The facility has achieved LEED® Gold certification.

Tier IV certification

The project has been awarded Tier IV Certification from the Uptime Institute for design and operations of the project. The facility is one of a handful of projects in the world to achieve Tier IV certification for facility design and the only one in the world to achieve it for operations. An experienced and innovative design team was able to come up with an efficient, yet highly redundant design, in line with the key client objectives and Uptime Institute requirements to achieve design certification.

The project delivery team was able to achieve construction certification by mapping out key objectives well in advance of commissioning, and also, by efficiently demonstrating the redundancy and functionality of the key mechanical and electrical systems to the Uptime Institute.

Innovations

This was the first data centre procured under a P3 model. It was immediately important to understand that the project was focused on the mechanical and electrical elements, wrapped with support services and security perimeter. Plenary was able to manage the technical requirements of this Tier IV data centre, including a 30-year guarantee on energy, and layer on the risk transfer, financing and documentation of the P3 transaction.

Plenary was provided with an abbreviated schedule to reach Commercial and Financial Close. Due to the advanced state of Plenary’s deal documentation with its funders and consortium partners, Commercial Close and Financial Close were reached in approximately five weeks.

Local economic impact

The construction of the New Data Centre was a significant economic driver for the Guelph region, providing jobs for approximately 400 construction workers on site daily at the peak of construction.