Raised floor
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Raised floors are used in office buildings with a high requirement for servicing, such as IT data centers, and carry cables, electrical supply, and sometimes air conditioning or chilled water pipes, server racks, or desks in landscaped office areas.
Raised floors are usually liftable floor panels normally 2ft x 2ft or 600mm x 600mm in Europe, on a gridded layout of adjustable-height metal legs called pedestals. The panels are normally made of steel clad particleboard or a steel panel with a cementitous internal core. The height of the legs/pedestals is dictated by the volume of cables and other services provided beneath, but typically arranged for a minimum clearance of six inches (15 cm). The panel may be finished on the top surface in a variety of finishes depending on application,carpets, high pressure laminates, marble and stone are all suitable to be bonded to raised floor. Additional structural support and lighting are often provided when a floor is raised enough for a person to crawl or walk beneath. A strong suction-cup or magnet lifter is used to pull out individual panels. A hook and loop lifter may be used on carpeted panels.
Many modern computer and equipment rooms employ an underfloor cooling system to ensure even cooling of the room with minimal wasted energy. Cooled air is pumped under the floor and dispersed upward into the room through regularly spaced diffuser tiles or through ducts directed into specific equipment. Automatic fire protection shutoffs may be required for under-floor ventilation, and additional suppression systems may be installed in case of under-floor fires.
In green building designs, the ceiling of a space might be the exposed surface of the concrete floor above (the soffit) (to give better thermal capacity) - so a raised floor can be part of a green strategy.
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