ASHRAE SoCal November Meeting - Data Centers: Day 2

Explore the challenges of testing, renovating, and improving live data centers while protecting uptime and operational reliability. Join ASHRAE SoCal on November 3 at Quiet Cannon for an evening of industry networking and a technical discussion focused on what happens after a data center goes live. The ribbon's been cut and the facility is online. Go live, and you're at Day 2 (or beyond). This session is written for both sides of the engagement: the consultants brought in to work on operating data centers, and the operations teams who hire them and live with the outcome. Ten years is a long time in this industry. This talk walks from 2016 to today, what it took to consult on an existing data center a decade ago, what it takes now, and what changed in between. It's told from both chairs, including time on the owner's side working alongside the operations team at a top-five tech company. Operations is not design. Operations is not construction. Different pressures, different vocabulary, different definition of "done", and consultants who don't know that get shown the door. We'll cover what to consider when testing and renovating any existing facility, scoping around occupancy, phasing, protecting what's already working, and then push into what it actually takes in the most sensitive live environments on earth. The core question: how do you survey, check, and test a running data center with zero downtime, when redundancy isn't a simple A-side and B-side anymore? Verifying sequences and running dynamic testing when nothing can drop. Surveying systems, you're not allowed to interrupt. Recommending improvements around production. And building the trust that gets a consultant access in the first place. Tracey Jumper, CCP, ASHRAE Fellow, will draw on 26 years of experience across design, construction, commissioning, and operations to explore the evolving requirements of operating data centers from both the consultant and owner perspectives. The session will examine practical considerations including: • Surveying and testing systems without interrupting operations • Planning renovations and phasing around occupied facilities • Protecting uptime while verifying sequences and conducting dynamic testing • Working with increasingly complex redundancy strategies • Identifying improvements without compromising production • Understanding the priorities and expectations of operations teams • Building the trust consultants need to work in mission-critical environments While data centers provide the focus, many of the lessons apply broadly to engineers working on existing and continuously operating facilities. 📅 Tuesday, November 3, 2026 🕠 5:30 PM 📍 Quiet Cannon Come connect with the Southern California HVAC community and explore what it takes to design, test, and improve facilities where downtime is not an option. Tabletop Sponsorship ($500) Showcase your company at the first ASHRAE SoCal meeting of the new chapter year with a Tabletop Sponsorship. Sponsors will receive space to set up a display table, recognition and exposure across event marketing materials, and two general admission tickets to attend the meeting. It’s a great opportunity to connect directly with HVAC professionals, engineers, contractors, manufacturers, and industry partners while highlighting your products, services, and expertise.