Theses and Dissertations Collection

The sustainability of IT facilities has become a top priority in the modern era due to the global energy crisis and ecosystem deterioration. Data centers, as complex infrastructures consisting of computers, networking equipment, and elaborate cooling systems, consume large amounts of electricity. Wind catchers, as a prominent vernacular architecture design, have been used as effective natural air-conditioning systems in desert climates. In this thesis we investigate the application of wind catcher as an effective and passive ventilation technology for controlling data centers' thermal conditions in appropriate climates. The study includes running a detailed "DesignBuilder" simulation for a hypothetical structure, consisting of a data center, a wind catcher with two openings, and an exhaust wind tower. The results of this study show that, over the course of a year, a data center located in Moscow, Idaho with 120.84MWh heat gain can be ventilated through external air with -136.12MWh heat removal.