By Josh Perry, Editor
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According to a recent post from Facebook, the social media company has decided on Singapore for the location of its first, custom-built data center in Asia and it will spend an initial investment of $1.4 billion on the 170,000-square-meter facility.

An artist’s rendition of the new, 11-story, 170,000-square-meter data center that Facebook has planned for Singapore. (Facebook)

“We selected Singapore for a number of reasons, including robust infrastructure and access to fiber, a talented local workforce, and a great set of community partners, including the Singapore Economic Development Board and the Jurong Town Corporation, both of which have helped us move this project forward,” the post explained.

To cool this giant facility, Facebook will use its new StatePoint Liquid Cooling system for the first time. As previously reported on coolingZONE, this system was created by Nortek Air Solutions and is expected to cut water consumption by as much as 20% in Singapore.

The liquid cooling system includes intake and exhaust dampers, filters, coils, fans, and a membrane exchanger that cools water as it evaporates through a membrane separation layer. Cold water cools the air in the data center and the membrane layer prevents contamination between the water and the air.

The post from Facebook continued, “We expect the new facility, like all our data centers, to be powered by 100 percent renewable energy, and we are currently working to increase the development of new solar resources in Singapore. When compared to other facilities in the region, it will be a leader in energy efficiency with annual Power Usage Effectiveness of 1.19. This means that almost every watt going into our data center will be used to run the computing equipment.”

The design is for an 11-story building with a façade made of a perforated lightweight material that “allows airflow and provides glimpses of the state-of-the-art mechanical equipment inside.” Fortis Construction has been brought in as the general contractor for the project.

For more information about the Singapore project, visit https://facebook.com/SingaporeDataCenter.