Digital Realty Trust is committed to improving the performance and energy efficiency of our data centers through the creation, adoption and promotion of industry-leading best data center practices and experience. We are pioneers in thinking about green data centers, as well as, adopting and building to LEED and BREEAM certification requirements. We are also a Contributing Member of The Green Grid.
Defining Energy Efficient Data Centers
In the data center industry, the Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) metric has emerged to effectively incorporate the key evaluative elements of data center energy usage to deliver a meaningful efficiency calculation. This standard would be analogous to the “Miles Per Gallon” figure used within the auto industry to allow consumers to evaluate fuel efficiency between varying models and providers.
The Fundamental Design Elements of Energy Efficient Data Center
The operational efficiency of a data center is a function of effective power utilization and heat removal. The achievement of both of these objectives requires sound implementation principles and the selection of a provider that understands the importance of energy efficiency in order for its customers’ to cost effectively expand operations. Among the elements required to achieve this objective are:
- Hot Aisle/Cold Aisle — Using a hot aisle/cold aisle configuration that places your equipment racks in alternating cold (rack air intake side) and hot (rack air heat exhaust side) aisle ways is an effective way to balance the hot and cold air input and output within your facility.
- Operating Temperature — Operating your data center at the proper temperature can also dramatically decrease your power consumption and corresponding electrical bills. Current ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers) specifications specify a data center operating temperature of 72°F (22°C) as opposed to 68°F (20°C).
- Building Management System (BMS) — A Building Management System (BMS) enables you to capture and trend key performance data on major system components to identify variances in usage levels.
- Build-Out Incrementally — Units like generators and UPS systems are designed to operate at peak efficiency when they are performing to their maximum design conditions. By using incremental building methodologies power efficiency is gained by purchasing the appropriately sized units for the space to be built out.
- Focus on Flooring — The proper distribution of the perforated tiles of your raised floor is a simple, yet effective way to reduce the heat in your data center and the load on your cooling components. By ensuring that your floor is properly sealed and that your perforated tiles are not blocked or covered by equipment you increase the overall flow of cool air throughout the data center.
 |
