Evaluate a modular data center as a complete, site-specific facility system—not as a container of servers. Start by freezing the AI workload, rack densities, growth phases, utility conditions, temperature limits and redundancy objectives. Then require each bidder to show comparable power, cooling, thermal, energy, expansion, safety, service and lifecycle evidence against those same assumptions.
A useful proposal is more than a capacity number. It explains what happens at average and peak load, during maintenance or a component failure, when a new module is added, and when the facility operates below full utilization. The GSA/LBNL Modular Data Center Procurement Guide is a practical starting checklist, but its older recommendations must be reconciled with current AI hardware, liquid-cooling designs, local codes and project-specific engineering.
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What you are actually evaluating
A modular data center is a prefabricated facility arrangement that can combine IT space with electrical distribution, cooling, controls, fire protection, monitoring and physical infrastructure. Modules may be factory-built rooms, skids, containers or separate power, cooling and IT units assembled at a site. The evaluation target is the integrated system and its interfaces, not merely the enclosure or the compute equipment installed inside it.
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Do not treat a vendor reference architecture as independent validation. It is an example of one implementation. Ask every bidder to substantiate performance for your intended hardware, operating profile and site conditions.
Freeze workload and site assumptions before requesting bids
Comparable proposals are impossible when each vendor quietly chooses different assumptions. Put a written basis of design in the request for proposal and require exceptions to be listed line by line.
Define the AI workload and growth phases
- State the initial rack count, the number of racks in each later expansion phase and the target date for each phase.
- List the intended server, accelerator, storage and network equipment, including rack layout and any unusually deep, heavy or service-intensive assemblies.
- Give average and maximum IT power per rack, expected coincident load, utilization assumptions and the duration of peak operation.
- Specify allowable server inlet temperatures, expected exhaust temperatures, humidity limits and any manufacturer restrictions.
- Document airflow direction for air-cooled equipment and supply, return, flow-rate and temperature limits for liquid-cooled equipment.
- Identify whether each rack needs a single feed, dual independent feeds or another power arrangement, and state the required availability objective.
- Describe workload sensitivity to interruption. A training run, inference service and batch analytics job may have different restart and ride-through requirements.
The GSA/LBNL guide specifically recommends documenting rack-space, rack-power, temperature, airflow and power-connection requirements before engaging suppliers. Include expected growth rather than asking a bidder to guess a future load.
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Describe the site, utilities and authority having jurisdiction
- Provide climate design data, elevation, ambient temperature and humidity ranges, wind, dust or corrosive conditions and any flood, seismic or wildfire exposure.
- State available utility capacity, voltage, fault-current information, interconnection schedule and limits on new transformers or switchgear.
- Identify whether municipal water, chilled water, reclaimed water or a dry heat-rejection option is available, along with quality, pressure, temperature and discharge constraints.
- Give the pad or floor dimensions, bearing capacity, clearances, crane and lifting limits, delivery route, turning radius and restrictions on module height or weight.
- List security boundaries, access-control requirements, communications paths, fiber routes and the location of the operations team.
- Name the authority having jurisdiction (AHJ), applicable electrical, fire, building, environmental and occupational-safety codes, and the expected permit sequence.
Require bidders to identify every site dependency. A quoted module capacity that assumes unlimited chilled water or a future utility upgrade is not usable capacity until those dependencies are funded and scheduled.
Build an RFP that forces apples-to-apples answers
Give every vendor the same load profile and reporting template. Ask for a conceptual layout, equipment schedules, single-line diagrams, cooling and controls schematics, commissioning plan, price basis, exclusions and a list of deviations from your requirements.
Require separate values for IT load and facility load. State whether quoted capacity includes cooling pumps, fans, controls, UPS losses, transformer losses, lighting, security and fire systems. Ask for capacity in normal operation, during a failed component, and while equipment is removed for planned maintenance.
Request evidence in a consistent format:
- Design conditions and assumptions used for every calculation.
- Manufacturer data sheets and the exact model or revision evaluated.
- Load-bank, factory-acceptance or site-acceptance test procedures, including pass/fail criteria.
- Thermal maps and sensor locations from room, row, cabinet, device and chip levels where available.
- Energy estimates at the utilization points you specify, not just full-load nameplate values.
- Control sequences for startup, shutdown, loss of utility, loss of cooling, leak detection and communications failure.
- Commissioning responsibilities, required owner staff, temporary services and handover documentation.
Evaluate the electrical architecture and usable capacity
Trace power from the utility to each rack
Ask for a one-line diagram that shows the utility service, transformers, switchgear, UPS systems, generators or energy storage, distribution boards, busways or whips, rack-level protection and grounding. The diagram should identify ratings, locations, protection settings and the point at which the vendor’s capacity guarantee ends.
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Separate nameplate capacity from usable IT capacity. A 1 MW service does not mean 1 MW is available to servers after reserve margins, UPS limits, cooling auxiliaries and redundancy requirements. Require a calculation for initial operation and every planned expansion phase.
Model redundancy and failure scenarios
Have the bidder describe the topology—such as N, N+1, 2N or another arrangement—and the consequence of losing each major component. Review utility loss, UPS-module failure, generator failure, feeder or breaker maintenance, transfer operations and a fault on one distribution path. Ask whether a failed component can be isolated without dropping a rack and whether maintenance can occur concurrently with the intended IT load.
The procurement guide calls out backup equipment and power-connection requirements. Apply local electrical codes and have the project design reviewed by qualified electrical professionals. IEEE P3710’s stated scope covers modular data-center electrical installation considerations, but its page identifies it as an active project rather than a completed standard; it is not a substitute for adopted codes or an approval.
Check power quality and integration
Request harmonic, short-circuit, grounding, transient and power-quality assumptions for the actual servers and power-conversion equipment. Confirm compatibility between UPS output, generator operation, transfer switches and the power supplies in the proposed racks. Ask how metering is exposed to the building-management system and how alarms reach the operator.
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Compare the entire heat-removal path
Cooling begins at the chip and ends at the heat-rejection equipment. Require a diagram and performance schedule covering cold plates or heat exchangers, rack manifolds, cooling-distribution units (CDUs), pumps, facility-water loops, chillers or dry coolers, fans, controls and outdoor heat rejection.
For each stage, request design flow, supply and return temperatures, pressure drop, allowable water quality, leak-detection method, isolation valves and maintenance clearances. State the supported rack density and the maximum inlet temperature at the equipment, not only the room set point.
Test air and liquid assumptions against site conditions
Air-cooled designs need airflow containment, fan capacity and a heat-rejection path that remains within limits at the site’s summer design condition. Liquid-cooled designs need reliable facility water or a closed-loop alternative, treatment and filtration, leak response, quick-disconnect strategy and a plan for draining or replacing coolant.
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The older GSA/LBNL guide recommends outside-air cooling where site and IT conditions permit and gives a context-specific approximate ordering for other cooling types. Do not transplant that ordering to a high-density liquid-cooled AI deployment without engineering analysis. Climate, water availability, humidity control, rack density and operating hours can reverse the apparent advantage.
Use vendor reference figures correctly
The NVIDIA DSX facilities reference describes liquid-to-liquid CDUs, N+1 group redundancy and a thermal-control-system design flow of at least 1.5 LPM/kW. It also lists 198 kW to 330 kW of cabinet thermal design power for particular reference configurations. The accessed page does not state a date for those figures. They are architecture-specific examples, not universal requirements or independent comparative test results. Ask each bidder to provide flow, redundancy and cabinet-density evidence for the exact IT equipment and operating envelope in your project.
Review failure isolation and maintainability
Ask what happens when a pump, CDU, chiller, dry cooler, control panel, valve or leak sensor fails. Determine whether one fault affects one rack, one row, one module or the entire facility. Check that valves, filters, pumps, heat exchangers and control panels can be reached without entering an unsafe area or shutting down healthy loads.
Demand comparable thermal and energy evidence
Set measurement boundaries
Require a clear boundary for every efficiency claim. At minimum, account for IT power, cooling plant, pumps, fans, controls and relevant electrical losses. State whether auxiliary loads, water treatment, lighting, security and office systems are included. Ask for results at several utilization points—for example, the expected minimum, typical average, planned peak and a credible expansion case.
Data centers often operate below estimated full load, so a full-load nameplate comparison can favor a design that performs poorly during most of its life. The GSA/LBNL guide recommends reduced-load efficiency estimates. Ask for the control strategy, minimum turndown, cycling behavior and any efficiency penalty when only a portion of the module is occupied.
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Use a multi-level thermal framework
Thermal conditions should be reported at the level where a failure can occur: room, row, cabinet, device and chip. ITU-T Recommendation L.1322, approved on December 14, 2025 and listed as in force, provides a framework for multi-level thermal indicators in data centers with high heat flux and stringent conditions. It helps standardize what is measured and where, but it does not establish one universal pass threshold for every AI platform.
Ask vendors to identify sensor locations, sampling intervals, workload used, ambient conditions, control set points and the duration of the test. Compare maximum and sustained temperatures, gradients between racks, flow stability and the response to a cooling-component failure. A single room-average temperature can hide a cabinet or device hotspot.
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Report energy and water in operational terms
Request annualized energy estimates based on your utilization profile and local weather, with assumptions for expansion and maintenance. Include water consumption, blowdown, treatment and drought restrictions where water-based heat rejection is proposed. If heat recovery is claimed, identify the usable temperature, seasonal demand, distance to the load and controls required.
The U.S. Department of Energy Federal Energy Management Program’s Best Practices Guide for Energy-Efficient Data Center Design, dated July 26, 2024, covers IT systems, environmental conditions, air management, cooling, electrical systems, heat recovery and benchmarking metrics. It states: “No design guide can offer "the most energy-efficient" data center design, but these guidelines can provide efficiency benefits for a wide variety of data center scenarios.” Use metrics such as PUE only with their boundary and operating assumptions, not as a standalone verdict.
Test scalability as an interface problem
Expansion is not simply parking another container beside the first one. Compare the repeatable interfaces that make a later module useful:
- Electrical: spare transformer, switchgear, UPS, generator and distribution capacity; protection coordination; and the work needed to connect a new feeder.
- Cooling: spare pump and heat-rejection capacity, pipe headers, water treatment, controls licenses and isolation points.
- Network: fiber pathways, meet-me locations, cable tray, switching capacity, latency assumptions and diverse routes.
- Controls: naming conventions, protocols, alarm points, historian capacity, cybersecurity boundaries and operator workflows.
- Physical and life safety: foundations, fire detection and suppression zones, egress, security coverage, drainage and structural limits.
Ask how a new module is factory-tested, delivered, connected, commissioned and accepted without disrupting running workloads. Identify shared equipment that can become a bottleneck and the headroom reserved for it. Confirm whether expansion requires a planned outage, a temporary cooling plant, a crane lift over live equipment or a new permit.
The Open Compute Project Modular Data Center project frames modularity around deployment speed, lower construction impact, maintainability, scalability and power/cooling efficiency. Its page lists public specifications, including a 90 kW standalone modular data center specification associated with Schneider Electric. The 90 kW value is the capacity in that listed specification’s title, not a universal module size or proof of current product availability.
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Read the certificate boundary
Ask for the exact certificate, edition, tested configuration, module boundary and limitations. Determine whether the evaluation covered a functioning integrated power, cooling, IT and support arrangement or only an individual enclosure or component.
UL describes UL 2755:2025 as replacing its 2018 edition and addressing distributed modular architectures, code compliance and structural matters such as stacking loads, lifting and seismic considerations. The page describes an outline of investigation. Confirm which local electrical, building, fire, structural and environmental approvals apply; a certification mark does not replace permits or AHJ review.
Map codes to the project
Have the design team produce a code matrix showing the adopted edition, responsible professional, inspection point and evidence for each requirement. Include module transport and lifting, anchorage, seismic restraint, fire separation, emergency power, battery or fuel systems, refrigerants, water discharge, arc-flash labeling and worker access.
IEEE’s P3710 project page describes a North American guide project for power-only, IT-installation-infrastructure-only and combined power/IT modular data centers. The page identifies an active PAR approved June 19, 2025 and lists no active approved standard. State that status accurately and do not cite P3710 as a mandatory requirement.
Compare operations, service and lifecycle cost
Price the complete lifecycle
Compare installed cost, utility upgrades, site preparation, transport, lifting, commissioning, energy, water, maintenance labor, spares, specialized tools, coolant, software licenses, security, insurance, removal and potential reuse. Require a schedule of assumptions and exclusions so a low bid cannot hide work in the owner’s scope.
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Test serviceability before signing
- Review clearances around switchgear, UPS modules, pumps, CDUs, filters, valves, servers and fire-suppression equipment.
- Ask which components are field-replaceable, which require factory technicians and what skills the owner must maintain.
- Specify spare-parts recommendations, lead times, storage conditions and obsolescence commitments.
- Define service response times, escalation paths, remote-access rules, warranty duration and exclusions.
- Confirm monitoring integration, alarm ownership, historian retention, cybersecurity updates and operator training.
- Check smoke detection, fire suppression, leak detection, emergency stop functions, lighting, egress and safe lockout procedures.
The GSA/LBNL guide highlights serviceability, access clearances, proximity to power and chilled water, backup power, compatible monitoring, smoke detection and fire suppression. Treat those items as acceptance criteria rather than optional accessories.
Use a weighted vendor scorecard
Score all proposals against the same evidence and record unanswered items as risks, not as zeros that disappear into an average. The following axes cover the decisions that normally determine whether an AI module will remain useful after installation.
| Axis | Evidence to request |
|---|---|
| Workload fit | Rack count, IT equipment configuration, average and peak kW per rack, temperature envelope, airflow or liquid-loop requirements |
| Power | Available and usable IT capacity, redundancy, distribution topology, fault and maintenance scenarios, backup strategy |
| Cooling | Supported density, cooling architecture, heat rejection, facility dependencies, controls, failure isolation and part-load energy |
| Thermal performance | Comparable measurement boundaries and room-to-device or chip readings under defined workload conditions |
| Energy and water | IT and facility loads, operating points, annual assumptions, water use where applicable and heat-recovery potential |
| Scalability | Module increments, shared-system headroom, network and controls interfaces, commissioning plan and expansion interruption |
| Safety and compliance | Certification scope and edition, electrical and fire-code mapping, structural and lifting documentation and local approvals |
| Operations | Maintenance access, repair skills, spare parts, response times, monitoring integration, security and fire systems |
| Commercial fit | Installed cost, schedule assumptions, warranties, exclusions, service costs, site preparation and lifecycle plan |
Set weights based on the consequence of failure for your workload. A latency-sensitive inference service may weight availability and thermal stability more heavily than deployment speed; a temporary training cluster may assign more weight to rapid expansion and relocation. Document the rationale so the score is auditable.
A practical evaluation sequence
- Issue the basis of design. Freeze workload, site, code, utility and growth assumptions in a controlled document.
- Collect normalized proposals. Require one-line diagrams, cooling schematics, capacity calculations, energy tables, layouts, schedules, exclusions and lifecycle costs.
- Check arithmetic and boundaries. Reconcile rack totals, IT load, facility load, redundancy reserves, cooling capacity and expansion headroom.
- Interrogate exceptions. Ask each bidder to explain every assumption that differs from your basis of design and price the required owner work.
- Witness factory evidence. Review integrated controls, alarms, protection, leak response and load-bank or thermal test procedures before shipment.
- Plan site acceptance. Define commissioning stages, failure-injection tests, thermal mapping, metering validation, documentation and handover responsibilities.
- Score operational risk. Include service response, spares, access, training, cybersecurity, water dependency and expansion interruption—not only capital price.
- Approve only a bounded design. Record the exact equipment models, operating envelope, certified configuration, code approvals and assumptions behind the award.
Red flags that invalidate a comparison
- A vendor quotes “megawatts” without separating IT capacity from cooling and electrical overhead.
- Cooling capacity is stated without design ambient conditions, water temperatures, flow, pressure or part-load behavior.
- Thermal proof consists of a room-average temperature with no cabinet, device or chip measurements.
- A reference architecture’s figures are presented as industry requirements or independent test results.
- Expansion is described as adding containers, but shared switchgear, pumps, network paths or controls have no spare capacity.
- Certification is named without the edition, tested configuration, module boundary or local approval plan.
- The proposal assumes unlimited utility, chilled water, crane access, floor loading or site security.
- Lifecycle cost excludes water, maintenance staff, spares, coolant, software, utility upgrades or removal.
- Full-load efficiency is the only energy result, even though the deployment will spend substantial time at partial load.
Bottom-line decision rule
Select the modular option that demonstrates a credible operating envelope for your actual AI racks, not the one with the largest headline capacity or the most polished reference design. The winning proposal should show usable power after redundancy, cooling that remains stable at peak and partial load, measurements at the thermal levels that matter, repeatable interfaces for expansion, a code and certification path accepted by the AHJ, and a service plan that your organization can execute. If a bidder cannot state its assumptions, boundaries and failure behavior, its capacity and efficiency claims are not comparable.
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