Case Study: A. James Clark School of Engineering achieves doubled cooling capacity, improved efficiency and availability with Vertiv's Liebert CRV and SmartAisle solution

A. James Clark School of Engineering - Customer Case Study

A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland, a top-20 engineering program serving more than 4,500 students, was operating a 25-year-old data center that had run out of rack space, suffered hot spots, inefficient airflow and no cooling redundancy as IT demands grew. With limited time and budget for a facility build-out, the school engaged Vertiv for a Comprehensive Thermal Assessment (including CFD modeling) and SmartAisle technologies, recommending Liebert® CRV™ row‑based precision cooling with Liebert iCOM™ controls and remote monitoring via the Liebert Virtual Ntegrity Gateway (VNG).

Vertiv reconfigured the room into a single row of high‑density racks (18.6 kW), implemented airflow and cabling fixes (block‑out panels, tile repositioning, raised‑floor clearance) and installed the Liebert CRV with iCOM controls and VNG. The solution nearly doubled the data center’s usable space and cooling capacity (Liebert CRV operating at ~40% capacity, enabling up to double the server count), freed capacity for up to six additional racks, added cooling redundancy, and improved Power Usage Effectiveness by 5.5% while delivering significant energy savings through digital scroll compressors and variable‑speed EC fans.

A. James Clark School of Engineering