At its Rio Rancho facility in New Mexico, Intel has come up with a novel way to cooling data centers by dunking them in oil and keeping them there. After some testing, the company is convinced it's a viable option as the mineral oil's cooling effect improves energy efficiency and server performance, and reduces energy costs.
Another nontraditional approach for data center cooling is found by recycling seawater as a means to amplify energy savings. Interxion touts the benefits of using the same seawater to cool two data centers and help heat neighboring homes and businesses.
The explosion of data centers can also put a strain on community relations. But strategic partnerships and collaboration early on in the data center siting process can help better engage communities. This article gives a nod to Duke Energy's Envision Charlotte project, which connects local business leaders with technological and municipal resources to "demonstrate Charlotte's national leadership as a sustainable, progressive, cost-efficient place to do business."
Clearly, we've seen dramatic changes in recent years on the way data centers can be designed and operated. It'll be interesting to see what the coming months bring in the evolution of new data center technology and the inevitable march towards cloud computing.
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You comment: "The Facebook
You comment:
"The Facebook facility in Oregon earned LEED certifications, as did a Yahoo site in Nebraska and a sprawling 990,000-square-foot site for a QTS data center in Atlanta, considered the second largest data center in the world."
All these LEED certifications are for NEW construction (either LEED NC or LEED CS) These rating systems have nothing to do with operations and the amount of energy consumed within the whole building.
Only one LEED rating system covers all the aspects of operations and energy usage and that's LEED Existing Buildings.
However the real question should not reside in is this or that data center using more or less power than the next one...rather it should be focused on how efficient said data center is against a 'known' standard, (Energy Star, LEED, PUE), but which one?
The LEED Existing Buildings
The LEED Existing Buildings Operations and Maintenance rating system is a valid way to track environmental performance of a building, even a data center. However, as far as I can determine, there are no standalone data centers that have attempted to earn this rating.
On one hand I am not that surprised, as a LEED EBOM rating is mainly used in the commercial market to attract tenants or other revenue bearing entities. Standalone Data Centers generally aren’t competing in that way. However, with all this attention, one might think that it would be one way to recognize and validate the best performers. I'd be interested to hear if there are any standalone data centers out there that are attempting this standard.
Data center power usage and
Data center power usage and emissions are concerns, but you’re right that many data centers have made great strides in improving energy efficiency and mitigating environmental impacts. With data centers being crucial infrastructure for our increasingly digital world, I would like to see the conversation focus on how we can use new technology and design approaches to improve the environmental impact.
Already, the latest technology makes it possible for data centers to realize great reductions in their carbon footprints. One way to do this is by using energy storage systems to provide a more environmentally friendly alternative for on-site back-up power, as these uninterruptible power supplies can reduce energy usage at data centers: http://www.sandc.com/blogs/index.php/2012/09/for-a-greener-data-center-b.... Energy storage also makes it more practical to use intermittent wind and solar energy sources on a broader scale, to support all loads—including data centers. By allowing greater use of renewables to meet electricity demand, energy storage helps counter potential increases in carbon emissions that may result from higher overall electricity usage resulting from data center growth.
It’s great to see companies like Google and Facebook focusing on data center efficiency, and I expect more companies will start to adopt these approaches, too.
Data center power usage and
Data center power usage and emissions are concerns, but you’re right that many data centers have made great strides in improving energy efficiency and mitigating environmental impacts. With data centers being crucial infrastructure for our increasingly digital world, I would like to see the conversation focus on how we can use new technology and design approaches to improve the environmental impact.
Already, the latest technology makes it possible for data centers to realize great reductions in their carbon footprints. One way to do this is by using energy storage systems to provide a more environmentally friendly alternative for on-site back-up power, as these uninterruptible power supplies can reduce energy usage at data centers: http://www.sandc.com/blogs/index.php/2012/09/for-a-greener-data-center-b.... Energy storage also makes it more practical to use intermittent wind and solar energy sources on a broader scale, to support all loads—including data centers. By allowing greater use of renewables to meet electricity demand, energy storage helps counter potential increases in carbon emissions that may result from higher overall electricity usage resulting from data center growth.
It’s great to see companies like Google and Facebook focusing on data center efficiency, and I expect more companies will start to adopt these approaches, too.