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Cost Segregation for Data Centers
A data center is a building designed around the equipment it houses. Much of its cost sits in electrical and mechanical systems sized for IT load rather than for occupants, and how that capacity is classified is the central question in any data center study. It is a question that has to be answered with engineering, not assumed.
Where the analysis concentrates
Engineering has completed studies for every commercial property type, from hotels to lumber mills.
- Enterprise data centers
- Colocation facilities
- Edge and modular facilities
- Data halls within larger buildings
Electrical capacity serving IT load
Uninterruptible power supplies, generators, switchgear, power distribution units and busway can serve the IT equipment, the building, or both. The study traces each system to what it actually serves and documents the basis for its classification, because this is where data center studies draw the most scrutiny.
Cooling built for equipment, not people
Computer room air handlers, chillers dedicated to data halls, containment and supplemental cooling raise the same question as the electrical. Systems that exist to keep equipment within operating limits are analyzed separately from the HVAC that conditions office and support space, and the reasoning is recorded rather than asserted.
White space, security and site
Raised access flooring, cable tray, structured cabling, access control and surveillance, and hardened site work such as fencing, bollards and generator yards each have their own treatment. Fire protection is generally a building system; where suppression is engineered specifically for equipment areas, the study documents the distinction.
Commonly reclassified components
Representative of what an engineered study identifies in this asset class. Actual components and recovery periods depend on the property and are documented individually in your report.
What would a study find on your property?
Send the property details. Engineering prepares the estimate, and you receive a written, fixed-fee proposal within 24 to 48 hours.
Data Centers cost segregation questions
Still have a question? Ask Engineering.
Is all of the electrical in a data center short-life property?
No, and a study that claims it is invites a challenge. Electrical that serves lighting, receptacles and general building operation is a structural component. Electrical capacity that exists to serve IT equipment is a different question, answered system by system, with the load served, the design documents and the installation recorded in the report.
We are a colocation provider. Does leasing space to tenants change the analysis?
It can. What the property is used for, who owns the equipment and which systems the leases make the landlord's responsibility all affect classification. The study reads the leases and the design documents together, and how the results are applied on the return is a question for your CPA.
Can a data hall fit-out inside an existing building be studied on its own?
Yes. A data hall built into an existing building is a renovation or tenant improvement population in its own right, and the study can also capture the disposition of whatever was removed to make room for it.
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