User Manual

Siemens Switzerland Ltd 12
Building Technologies Division
1.3.2. Emergency power supply
For data centers emergency power supply (e.g. generators or
battery/UPS rooms) is mission critical as it ensures business
continuity in case of blackouts. Therefore, specific attention has to
be taken to protect these areas.
With the help of fast detection, operators are quickly informed about
an event and all required technical and organizational measures can
be started immediately. The ideal fire protection includes fast and
reliable fire detection without false alarms and provides exact
location assuring the appropriate response, like reliable
extinguishing of the fire.
More detailed information regarding fire protection in these rooms is
given in the document “fire protection in emergency power
supply rooms”.
1.3.3. Electrical switching rooms
An electrical switching room is the area dedicated to electrical
equipment sized proportionally to building type. Large buildings may
have a main electrical room and subsidiary electrical rooms.
Electrical equipment may be for power distribution equipment, or
for communications equipment.
Due to the high density of cables, switches and other electrical
equipment, the fire load is considerable and the critical nature of the
room with its power distribution function also makes it important to
the availability of the data center.
Typical fire source is energized or energy active electrical equipment:
• Electrical sources
• Fuse boxes
• Wiring
Electrical fire may be fought in the same way as an ordinary
combustible fire, but water, foam, and other conductive agents are
not to be used. While the fire is electrically energized, it can be
fought with any extinguishing agent rated for electrical fire. Early
and reliable fire detection in association with an automated dry
extinguishing solution offer optimal protection.