Cover Story
Green LEEDs to Gold
HSBC’s expansive new IP network
combines data, voice-over-IP, wireless,
facilities-security and videoconferencing
capabilities.
When
HSBC (Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Co.)
consolidated its North American corporate
headquarters into a new 560,000-square-foot
facility in Mettawa, Ill., a bedroom
community of Chicago, management had two
top-of-mind issues–long-term network
reliability and heightened awareness to the
long-term effects of the new facility to the
environment. These two separate initiatives
became intertwined through the design and
construction phases, as the goals of the
project were defined.
HSBC had outgrown its former headquarters
in Prospects Heights, Ill., which it had
occupied since 1979. "Given our history and
knowing that we will be in the new building
for the long run, we wanted to future proof
this facility by ensuring that all voice,
data, video and BAS (building automation
systems) applications over IP could run
through a top-of-the-line unified network
infrastructure that would not need to be
replaced for at least three generations,"
says Mike Nicchia, senior manager, new
projects network systems.
"Secondly, because HSBC is a ‘concerned
citizen’ with regards to environmental
impact, we wanted the design of the facility
built in accordance with obtaining the LEED
gold certification for new construction from
the U.S. Green Building Council."
The expansive IP network for the two
wings, six floors and more than 22,500 ports
was designed to encompass high-speed data
capabilities to each multimedia outlet for
data, voice over IP, security cameras,
wireless access points, BAS sensors,
videoconferencing and multifunctioning
devices (MFD).
"Originally, the horizontal cable was
going to be an above-the-standards Category
6 cable solution from Berk-Tek and Ortronics/Legrand,"
says Craig Kennedy, with Terrance Electric
and Technology Co. in Elmhurst, Ill. "But
when we looked closer at all the IP
applications that would be attached to the
network and how today’s technology is going
beyond gigabit, we selected an augmented
Category 6 (6a) cabling system to ensure
that HSBC could have the speed they required
without any threat of latency, and ample
bandwidth with the extra headroom needed as
more and more functions are added to the
network."
The bank selected the NetClear GTX
solution, which combines Berk-Tek’s LANmark
10G Category 6a cable with Ortronics’
Clarity 10G UTP patch panels, patch cords
and TracJack modules. "Even though Category
6a was not standardized at the time of the
design, it was on the verge of being
ratified, and we were assured that the
defined properties and performance to meet
or exceed 10GBASE-T were included in the GTX
solution from Berk-Tek and Ortronics/Legrand,"
Kennedy explains.
"The cabling solution that we selected is
application-independent, so that in addition
to providing data and voice to 3,000
employees, we used the same 10G cable to all
the devices, including more than 250
security cameras and 131 MFDs, 14
high-definition conference units and two
telepresence units, as well as to almost 900
PC-attached videoconferencing units,"
Nicchia says.
Bandwidth for surveillance
Due to the distance limitations of
copper, Berk-Tek’s Adventum two-fiber optic
cable was installed to the locations of the
outdoor security cameras. Although security
cameras today do not require the bandwidth
capacity built into a 10-gigabit cable,
HSBC’s IT team decided to utilize the same
cable for consistency and future proofing.
Because the cable plant will outlast the
edge devices, as most cameras are
customarily replaced within five years, the
added bandwidth will probably be needed for
speed, video clarity and analytics, Nicchia
says.
Both the backbone and horizontal cabling
were designed through the collaboration of
the internal IT department and Environmental
System Design (ESD), a Chicago engineering
firm. "This total redundant network is
designed for a functional failover, and
every component in the telecom room is
logically laid out and separated by odd and
even ports to maximize cable management
while minimizing patch cord length,"
explains Randy Zezulka of Terrance Electric
& Technology, who was responsible for the
installation schedule and installation team.
The backbone between the 23
telecommunication rooms (TRs) and main
distribution room included divergent riser
pathways for the Berk-Tek 24-strand,
50-micron fiber, premise-distribution cable.
Some singlemode fiber was installed for
carrier feeds and video applications.
More than 3.5 million feet of LANmark-10G
cable for horizontal distribution was
specified for the runs from the TRs to the
workstation outlets. "If a jack is visible
to an employee, such as in the floor, in the
furniture or on the walls, there are three
ports and three data runs," says Kennedy.
"There are dual runs to the non-data
devices, which are called specialty devices
and include access points, security cameras,
audio and video (A/V), and BAS."
Each TR is essentially identical and
equipped with two Mighty Mo 6 four-post
racks and two Ortronics two-post racks for
all the active and passive components. Two
Mighty Mo 6 racks house Ortronics 48-port
angled patch panels, separated into odd and
even racks with the odd and even ports. One
two-post rack houses all the active network
equipment, and the other is for specialty
network cabling, such as A/V, paging and
future applications.
Ortronics/Legrand specially designed and
built the 8-foot, two-post racks, because
they were only available in a seven-foot
height and HSBC wanted height consistency.
With all the racks the same height, Cablofil
wire mesh cable tray was installed above the
racks. Ortronics also customized 22U blank
panels to place on the back side of the
racks to cover the termination fields.
Since this was one of the first sites to
install the first-generation of Berk-Tek’s
10G cables, coupled with a tight total
construction schedule of 14 months (from
ground breaking to occupancy), some of the
installers were faced with conceiving
creative and immediate solutions for the
pathways and cable installation. All floors
except the ground level were built on
14-inch raised floors, for example, and the
cable was originally designed to run in
conduits in the concrete.
"But, by the time we came on the scene,
the subfloor was built during the base build
and didn’t necessarily coincide with the
Category 6a installation methods that came
into play," notes Zezulka. "With the
diameter and the sheer volume of LANmark-10G
cable, we had to make some quick
adjustments, including foregoing the
conduits and instead utilizing extended
sizes of cable tray under the floor for the
horizontal cable."
Installed and tested
The majority of work areas consist of
cubicles in an open area that are lined up
with a center spine that feed no more than
12 cubicles for a total of 36 cables. "There
are two entry points to each spine, so a
soft drink-sized hole was bored in each
floor for each row, and 18 cables were
pulled through and then broken off into
different directions," explains Nicchia.
The cable installation took 37,000 staff
hours, with 12 to 34 installers onsite at
any given time. In order to ensure proper
installation and receive the 25-year
NetClear warranty, one hundred percent of
all NetClear GTX channels were tested for
internal performance parameters up to a
frequency of 500 MHz, according to the
recommended requirements of
TIA/EIA-568-B.2-10.
Due to the design and inherent headroom
of the cabling solution, alien crosstalk
testing was not required by Berk-Tek or
Ortronics/Legrand to qualify for the
warranty. For added assurance, however, HSBC
requested that Terrance Electric test 10
percent of the bundles, one victim cable in
each bundle, which totaled 15 bundles per TR
and MDF.
The alien crosstalk testing took 18 hours
per TR to complete the 15 tests. This
equated to two-person shifts for almost two
months for the 400 cables. Testing for alien
crosstalk included connecting a Fluke
DTX1800 CableAnalyzer with special AXTalk
Communication modules that plug into the
back of the tester units. All the possible
pair combinations for both alien near-end
and far-end crosstalk were measured and
evaluated over the frequency range up to 500
MHz. Then the tests were reversed to capture
both near-end and far-end results. "There
was not one failure, which was a sigh of
relief, especially considering our tight
deadline," says Zezulka.
Wright Heerema Architects of Chicago
designed the building to be a LEED-certified
project, but during the design stages HSBC
executives requested that they take it even
further and go for the gold certification.
The LEED (Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design) rating system is a
third-party certification program that
provides building owners and operators the
tools they need to have an immediate and
measurable impact on their building’s
performance. To become LEED Gold Certified,
39-51 points must be obtained from the
various categories of performance criteria,
which include sustainable site development,
water savings, energy efficiency, materials,
indoor environmental quality, and innovation
and design.
"The first 30 points are fairly
uncomplicated to obtain, as they don’t incur
a lot of additional expense," explains
Nicchia. "But going beyond the LEED silver
certification level is exponential and needs
to be carefully designed into the building’s
architecture before even breaking ground."
The largest potential contributor to LEED
points is the structural design and
positioning of the HSBC building. The
building is "H" shaped, with an east and
west wing, each situated to allow natural
light to enter 70 percent of the building.
Forty-five feet of each wing’s perimeter on
all floors are exposed to natural light,
which was costly to construct because of the
unique footprint.
Inside, the modular cubicle furniture is
designed to line up around the perimeter,
and the least-used spaces, such as the
electrical closets, TRs and conference
rooms, are located in the core of the
building. Lights are controlled through
sensors, which are connected to the network.
Environmental considerations
Going for the LEED gold certification
also affected some of the cable-installation
procedures. Installers had to take an
orientation class for safety, LEED
requirements and qualifications. In
addition, there was an onsite LEED
accredited professional to make sure
materials were moved and disposed of
according to the guidelines.
To eliminate waste, Anixter, the selected
distributor for the communications and
cabling products, assembled the components
at its warehouse, removing all the excess
packaging before delivery.
When planning the facility, the IT team
at HSBC looked at applications that would
further utilize the network and centralize
equipment. One such implementation is the
MFD technology that reduced 800 separate
copiers, scanners, faxes and printers to 131
combination units.
HSBC also is looking at emerging
technologies, such as power-over-Ethernet
switches for both voice over IP and security
cameras, to further minimize
energy-consuming equipment.
"Not only will the current infrastructure
now be increasingly important, as it will be
the link to the servers, but communication
speeds will also become critical," says
Nicchia. Installing the cabling solution to
the desktop will allow maximization of IP
applications over the same network, while,
at the same time, merging devices to become
multifunctional, which ultimately reduces
energy use.
For more information
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About Berk-Tek
Kevin St. Cyr
Kevin St. Cyr joined Berk-Tek in 1996 as
senior vice president of sales and marketing
and was named president in 1999. In 2003,
his responsibilities increased to include
global product management of high-speed data
communications cable solutions. Prior to
joining Berk-Tek, he was the vice president
of marketing and sales for Champlain Cable
Corp. He earned a bachelor’s degree in
plastics engineering from the University of
Massachusetts, and a master’s degree from
Pennsylvania State University.
Berk-Tek has been manufacturing wire and
cable products for more than 40 years.
Flagship products include copper UTP cables,
such as Category 5e, 6 and 6a (10 gigabit)
and fiber-optic cable products for indoor
and outdoor applications. Berk-Tek is a
subsidiary of Nexans. Berk-Tek’s main focus
has been on enterprise networks for voice
and data, including backbone cable between
the telecom rooms and data centers, and
horizontal cable to the workstation outlets.