by social@busyseed.com | Oct 16, 2026
An Austin decommission, right through SXSW
CSC had two weeks to hand back an 8,000 SF data center in original condition — during the week South by Southwest took over Austin. Quantum cleared it, sent nothing to landfill, and did the labor at no cost to CSC.
Timeline
2 WeeksFull disconnect & removal
Result
No Cost to CSCPaid + all labor free
The Challenge
A hard deadline, during the busiest week in town
Quantum was referred to CSC, a global IT services company, to help with their 8,000 SF data center in Austin, Texas. Their lease had expired and the next-door tenant wanted to move into the space, so CSC was on the hook for removing all of the equipment and returning the suite to original condition.
The timing was brutal: the team’s window in Austin overlapped with South by Southwest. More than 28,000 visitors flooded the city, streets were blocked off, trucks struggled to get in — and the site had only a small dock that could fit straight trucks.
The Approach
Innovated around the gridlock
In just two weeks, Quantum fully disconnected the site’s Eaton UPSs and DataAire CRAC units, safely removed and recycled the lead-acid batteries, lifted all of the raised access flooring, and disconnected the remaining server cabinets and electrical infrastructure. To beat the festival gridlock and the small, straight-truck-only dock, the crew innovated a new loading technique that successfully navigated the city traffic and the loading limitations. Quantum paid CSC for the equipment and did all of the labor for free — and sent nothing to landfill, reselling or rehoming every asset.
ZeroSent to landfill
Everything was resold or rehomed — even raised-floor tiles with major cuts went to local residents for splash guards and flooring. As one put it: “a good product… very well-constructed.”
Scope of Work
The full suite, back to concrete
Everything removed down to the floor, in two weeks.
✓Eaton UPS systems disconnected
✓DataAire CRAC units removed
✓Lead-acid batteries safely removed & recycled
✓All raised access flooring lifted
✓Server cabinets & electrical infrastructure
✓Suite returned to original condition
In the client’s words
“They did a very thorough job of getting everything out… They worked well with the other contractor… There was good coordination. They stuck to their time schedule and were very quick to fulfill any financial obligations. They stuck to their word and I would use them again.”
Mark RanusCSC
The Outcome
On time, on budget, nothing wasted
A tight deadline met in a chaotic week — cleanly, and with zero landfill.
Original condition, no cost
The suite was handed back to original condition in two weeks — with Quantum paying CSC and doing all the labor for free.
Zero landfill, creative reuse
Every asset was resold or rehomed — even hard-to-reuse cut floor tiles found a second life with local residents.
Logistics, solved
A new loading technique got trucks in and out around SXSW crowds and a small, straight-truck-only dock.
Your project could be next
Tight deadline, tricky access?
We hit hard end-of-lease deadlines, work around real-world logistics, and keep materials out of the landfill — often at no cost to you.
by social@busyseed.com | Oct 16, 2026
A Reno data center cleared, down to the last window
When Renown Health bought a former Oracle data center in Reno, Quantum decommissioned it back to original condition — 3,516 SF of raised floor, 183 cabinets, and 40 ceiling air conditioners that had to come out through the second-floor windows.
Timeline
4 WeeksDecommission & removal
Result
Returned to OriginalReady for office use
The Challenge
From Oracle’s servers to a new owner
Quantum met with Matt Grimes of CBRE in December 2014 to inventory the old Oracle data center in Reno, Nevada. Matt’s goal was to sell the building or find a new tenant who would use the data center assets — and if no buyer or tenant materialized, he was prepared for Quantum to do a complete decommission and market the building as office space.
Within a few months, Renown Health purchased the property. Matt referred Quantum to Renown, and their general contractor, Lindsey York, sold Quantum the surplus assets and brought Quantum in to do the decommission and removal.
By the Numbers
What came out of the building
Raised Floor
3,516 SFPlus understructure
Cabinets
183Data cabinets
Ceiling ACs
40Liebert units
Transformers
14Plus switchgear
The Approach
The hard parts: windows and rooftops
A December walk-through, several months before the project started, helped determine the scope and surface any unexpected conditions. Two of those conditions shaped the job: the 40 ceiling-mounted air conditioners had to be removed through the second-floor windows, so Quantum hired a window contractor to remove and replace the windows; and the roof-mounted condensing units had to come off by crane.
Quantum’s forklift- and telescopic-forklift-certified crews did the rigging and used a local crane company for the picks — with a pick plan submitted to the owner, insurance documents filed, and permits secured for road closures as needed.
40Ceiling ACs removed through the windows
The 40 ceiling-mounted air conditioners couldn’t go out the door — so Quantum removed and replaced the second-floor windows to get them out.
What We Removed
The full data center build-out
Everything down to the conduit beneath the floor.
✓3,516 SF raised floor, understructure, conduit & cable
✓183 data cabinets
✓7 Liebert CRAC units
✓4 roof-mounted condensing units (craned off)
✓40 ceiling Liebert air conditioners (via the windows)
✓14 transformers & 5 electrical switchgear lineups
The Outcome
Back to original, ready for its next tenant
A tricky removal, planned in advance and executed cleanly for the building’s new owner.
Returned to original condition
All of the equipment was disconnected and removed, bringing the space back to original condition for office use.
Tough removals, done right
Ceiling ACs came out through replaced windows and rooftop units by crane, with pick plans, permits and insurance in place.
Planned before it started
An early walk-through scoped the work and caught the conditions that made this job unusual — before a tool was lifted.
Your project could be next
Got a removal with no easy way out?
Windows, rooftops, tight access — we plan the picks, pull the permits and bring the rigging, so even the awkward equipment comes out clean.
by social@busyseed.com | Oct 16, 2026
Turning a data center into a place of worship
Christ Church found a former data center in Greensboro to become their new home, but the demo quotes came back high. Quantum cleared it out for free — and paid the church for the assets, money that went toward their new flooring.
Location
Greensboro, North Carolina
Timeline
2 WeeksBuilding clean-out
Result
Done for FreePayment bought new flooring
The Challenge
A new church, trapped behind a data center
Christ Church in Greensboro had found a former data center building they wanted to remodel and use as their new church. Buddy Turner and his team solicited a number of quotes from local construction companies to do an interior demolition of the site — but the numbers they got back were very high.
Everything needed to be removed before they could convert the space into a place of worship. That’s when they found Quantum Technology.
The Approach
Cleared for free, with care for what stayed
Quantum did all of the labor for free — disconnecting and removing the UPS equipment, the electrical room, the remediated R22 and the raised access flooring — while leaving the church’s partitioning walls intact. The cooling units, PDUs and console were dismantled and removed too.
And rather than pulling up every last panel, the crew left a stage of raised flooring for the church to use for their pulpit. Quantum also paid Christ Church for the assets it took out, and that money went toward the purchase of new church flooring.
$0Labor cost to the church
All of the labor was done at no charge — and Quantum paid the church for its assets, turning a demolition bill into money toward new flooring.
Scope of Work
What the clean-out covered
The full data center and electrical room — with thoughtful exceptions.
✓UPS equipment disconnected & removed
✓Electrical room cleared
✓R22 remediated
✓Raised access flooring removed
✓Cooling units, PDUs & console dismantled
✓Partition walls left intact & a pulpit stage preserved
The Outcome
A beautiful place of worship
What started as a server room became a sanctuary — and the church came out ahead.
Free labor, money back
The church paid nothing for the removal — and Quantum’s payment for the assets funded their new flooring.
Built around their plans
Partition walls were left intact and a stage of raised flooring was preserved for the pulpit.
A server room, transformed
The cleared space was transformed into a beautiful new place of worship for the congregation.
Your project could be next
Converting a building to a new use?
We clear out old data centers and electrical rooms for reuse — and where the assets have value, the work can cost you nothing, or even put money back in your pocket.
by social@busyseed.com | Oct 16, 2026
A data center down, and a cooling tower off the roof
When Johnson Controls retired an aging data center in Westminster, CBRE brought in Quantum for the asset recovery, the interior demolition, and the removal of a gargantuan rooftop cooling tower — finishing broom-swept.
Client
CBRE (for Johnson Controls)
Location
Westminster, Massachusetts
Timeline
2 WeeksDecommission & demolition
Result
Broom-SweptDown to bare floor & walls
The Challenge
An aging data center JCI chose to retire
In April 2019, Gina Zastrow, a Project Manager for CBRE in New England, was part of an account team dedicated to Johnson Controls International (JCI) and assigned to decommission the JCI data center on Simplex Drive in Westminster, Massachusetts. The data center had exceeded its useful life, and JCI decided to demolish it.
JCI didn’t have in-house capabilities to do the demolition, so Gina hired Quantum Technology to do the asset recovery and interior demo of the data center — and the demolition of a large cooling tower on the roof.
Our planning philosophy
“Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four sharpening the ax.”
Attributed to Abraham LincolnThe project took about four months to plan — and a short, clean window to execute
The Approach
Clear roles, careful rooftop work
The work was tightly coordinated. Gina’s general contractor pulled the demo permits, did the electrical shut-off and drained the chilled water system, while Quantum provided the crane, riggers, steel roll-offs, rigging equipment, materials and labor — with CBRE facilities manager Mark Hussey providing hands-on supervision. To take down the gargantuan rooftop cooling tower, Quantum laid down material to protect the roof, then disassembled and removed the tower and its frame without causing damage. The data center was taken down to bare floor and walls — broom-swept condition.
9,000 SFRaised floor removed
From 9,000 SF of raised floor to a rooftop cooling tower, Quantum stripped the facility down to bare floor and walls.
What We Removed
From the floor to the roof
The full data center plus its rooftop cooling plant.
✓9,000 SF raised floor
✓6 Liebert chilled water units
✓1 Exide UPS & batteries
✓22 Dell server racks
✓6 Liebert condensing units
✓Rooftop cooling tower & frame
✓All feeders & conduit
✓Roof protected during tower removal
The Outcome
Planned long, executed clean
Months of planning paid off in a short, damage-free execution.
Down to broom-swept
The data center was stripped to bare floor and walls and handed back in broom-swept condition.
A tower off the roof, cleanly
The gargantuan rooftop cooling tower and its frame came down with the roof protected and undamaged.
Coordinated to the detail
Permits, shut-offs and rigging were sequenced across the GC, CBRE and Quantum — the result of four months of planning.
Your project could be next
Decommission plus rooftop demolition?
We recover the assets, strip the interior and take down rooftop plant — cranes, riggers and roof protection included — and plan every step before we start.
by social@busyseed.com | Oct 16, 2026
Clearing the old AOL data center for a new one
To open in Ashburn, Infomart chose the former AOL data center and brought in DPR Construction. Quantum decommissioned 120,000+ SF — roughly 800,000 lbs of batteries, 96 CRAC units and a full chiller plant — over a 10-week, safety-first program.
Client
DPR Construction for Infomart
Location
Ashburn, Virginia
Timeline
10 Weeks30–40-member crew
Result
Cleared for Build-OutBecame a major Infomart DC
The Challenge
An old data center, in the way of a new one
When Infomart Data Centers, a national data center provider, wanted to open operations in Ashburn, Virginia, it identified the old AOL data center building as an ideal location and hired DPR Construction — a national construction firm booking around $4 billion in new builds a year — to handle the design and build-out.
DPR contracted with Quantum Technology to decommission the old data center and purchase the assets, dismantling the existing build-out, pulling all the feeders, and preparing the space for a brand-new data center build.
By the Numbers
The scale of the site
Space
120,000+ SFData center space
Batteries
~800,000 lbsWet-cell lead-acid
Cooling
96 CRACUnits removed
The Approach
A big job, run on safety
A 30–40-member crew worked the site for about 10 weeks. Each day began with a pre-task checklist identifying the day’s tasks, crew assignments and possible hazards — with hazards called out by every member of each team to encourage full participation in a 100% safe working environment. Crews operated under OSHA regulations with forklift and fall-protection certification.
Beyond the equipment decommission, Quantum recycled roughly 328,000 lbs of non-ferrous metal and 443,000 lbs of scrap steel — purchasing the assets and keeping the recoverable material out of landfill.
~800,000 lbsOf batteries decommissioned
Three battery rooms held approximately 800,000 lbs of wet-cell lead-acid batteries — all removed and handled by trained, certified crews.
What We Removed
Six data centers’ worth of infrastructure
Power, cooling, batteries and structure — across the whole facility.
✓6 main data centers of 15,000 SF each
✓96 CRAC units
✓48 Cyberex PDUs & 168 RPPs
✓15 UPS systems & associated switchgear
✓~800,000 lbs of wet-cell batteries (3 battery rooms)
✓Chiller plant — 5 chillers & Inergen fire suppression
✓Electrical panels & server racks
✓328,000 lbs non-ferrous & 443,000 lbs steel recycled
The Outcome
Cleared, recovered, and reborn
The old facility came out cleanly and safely — and the building went on to a second life as a major data center.
A new data center was born
The client was extremely satisfied, and the former AOL building became a major data center for Infomart.
A 100% safe program
Daily pre-task hazard reviews and OSHA-certified crews kept a large, high-voltage decommission running safely.
Assets bought and recycled
Quantum purchased the assets and recycled hundreds of thousands of pounds of non-ferrous metal and steel.
Your project could be next
Repurposing a data center shell?
We clear existing facilities for new builds — power, cooling, batteries and all — on OSHA-certified, safety-first programs, and buy the assets to keep your costs down.
