Research, data, and a lot of numbers

Data, numbers, metrics—they all provide useful information to assist us in our jobs.

By Amara Rozgus, Editor-in-Chief October 26, 2016

If you haven’t already figured it out, Consulting-Specifying Engineer conducts a lot of research. We cover research monthly, send requests for audience members to provide feedback for various studies, and follow market and industry trends carefully. We even conduct proprietary research for clients who want a laser-focused view of a particular portion of the market. There isn’t a shortage of numbers to crunch or graphs to read. 

The results of a recent readership study have shed light on a few items that we know are important to you:

·         Codes and standards

·         Articles specific to your engineering discipline

·         Webcasts/webinars

·         Forward-looking or thought-leadership pieces

·         New technologies highlighted in display advertisements.

Our print and online content are focused even more on your needs and on areas to help you succeed in your job. Constructive criticism, suggestions, and ideas for topic coverage also are taken into account, steering the content team toward specific areas of interest.

For example, in mid-September, one of the most anticipated standards was released; watch for more about it in upcoming technical articles. ASHRAE Standard 90.4: Energy Standard for Data Centers is a performance-based standard that looks at data centers in a much different manner. Rather than just being lumped into other energy standards, engineers and data center designers can use ASHRAE 90.4 as a mechanical and electrical guide for design, performance, energy, and a host of other parameters.

Creation of codes, standards, and guidelines takes years—the committee that worked on this new standard certainly had their work cut out for them as they considered data closets, collocation facilities, and data centers across the world. The mounds of research, metrics, calculations, and other moving technological targets in the industry were likely very exciting in some ways and excruciatingly painful in others.

This new standard will be covered in more depth in the upcoming months, as will other topics on data centers. Our research shows that these buildings and other mission critical facilities are rapidly changing and, as they continue to do so, require you to keep up with the information as quickly and easily as possible.

If there are additional topics you’d like to see research results on, or a particular area you’d like to see covered (or even cover yourself in an article or case study), please contact me. We can certainly send some high-quality data your way.