Annual Report 2011 - CSCS

42
CSCS sets new standards
Today the new CSCS building is one of the most energy-efficient
and ecologically sustainable supercomputer centres in
the world. This is the result, among other things, of the use of
water from Lake Lugano to cool the supercomputers as well as
the building itself in summer. By using the 6 degree cold water
from the lake to cool the computers it was possible to forego
the installation of conventional power-hungry cooling systems,
which would otherwise have accounted for about a third of the
total electricity consumption. To operate the cooling system, a
pumping station has been built on the lake shore in Parco Ciani,
in the centre of Lugano. On its way to CSCS, the water will climb
30 metres and cover a distance of 2.8 kilometres.
The whole building has been planned to be modular in structure,
allowing as much flexibility as possible in developing it and
adapting it for subsequent technologies. A hoisting crane (with
a weight-bearing capacity of up to 10 tonnes and the ability
to reach all storeys of the computer building from the delivery
area) ensures that any later modifications to the building can
be made without difficulty.
In the labyrinth of the pumping station: five metres beneath the lawns
of Parco Ciani, over 700 litres of water per second are pumped out of
Lake Lugano.
Only a trapdoor indicates the existence of the pumping station below
the surface of Parco Ciani to visitors.
The water pipe (green) stretches 2.8 km accross the city to connect the
lake (right) with the computing centre. On its way it crosses under the
Casserate river twice.