What role does the data centre industry have in contributing to global energy usage and how are DC operators tackling this ?

The data centre industry is estimated to be responsible for somewhere between 2 – 3 % of all global energy consumption . With energy-hungry technology like 5G mobile networks , Big Data and Artificial Intelligence still just taking off , data centre demand is likely to continue to grow for some time .

As customers , governments and industry regulators push for increased social responsibility , many data centre operators now have corporate sustainability goals to meet . In many cases , organisations have set goals to be carbon neutral – or even carbon negative – by as early as 2030 .

To meet their corporate sustainability goals , data centre operators are now laser-focused on saving energy , maximising the utilisation of their existing footprint , reporting on energy efficiency metrics and following best practices for sustainability .

What are some of the steps DC operators can take to reduce their carbon footprint ?

There are tried-and-true best practices that can help any data centre operator reduce their carbon footprint .

First , operators should instrument their data centre with meters and sensors to collect data on their power and environment . This data is critical for making the most informed energy management decisions .

Raising the temperature is one simple way to immediately increase efficiency . Modern equipment can handle warmer environments , but many operators play it safe and keep temperatures cool . However , they can reduce energy consumption by 4 – 5 % for every 1 ° F increase in server inlet temperature .

Separating cold supply air from hot exhaust air via hot / cold aisle containment can improve energy efficiency by up to 40 % compared to an uncontained environment .

Minimising bypass airflow improves cooling efficiency . Materials like blanking panels and raised floor grommets are cost-effective and easy to implement solutions that can achieve small but noticeable energy savings .

Up to 30 % of servers in a data centre may be ghost servers that consume energy but perform no useful function . Ghost servers , along with power hogs , should be identified and decommissioned , virtualised , or replaced with more efficient equipment .

Reusing and recycling equipment is encouraged to reduce the amount of unnecessary carbon emissions caused by the equipment manufacturing process .

Renewable energy such as solar , wind and hydroelectric power may be purchased or generated onsite to replace dependence on fossil fuels . These energy sources continue to become more costeffective every year .

Finally , DCIM software is a must-have to measure , trend and report on energy efficiency metrics , maximise the utilisation of existing resources to defer wasteful

Herman Chan , President , Sunbird Software

new buildouts , and drive more energyefficient behaviour .

Can DC operators ever expect to balance availability / reliability with sustainability – and if so , how ?

It ’ s a common concern that increasing sustainability comes at the expense of increased risk to availability and reliability , but that doesn ’ t have to be the case .

With DCIM software , operators can rest assured that their sustainability initiatives aren ’ t introducing risk with real-time power and environment monitoring capabilities .

Users can set warning and critical thresholds on rack loads , inlet loads , circuit breaker loads , three-phase balance , temperature and humidity . When a threshold is violated , the user is automatically alerted so they can remediate any issue before it causes a serious problem .

Power and environment monitoring helps protect sustainability initiatives from causing downtime , losing redundancy , forming hot spots and causing other conditions that may impact services .

How can DCIM help reduce energy consumption ?

There are many ways DCIM software helps reduce energy consumption . First , DCIM software allows operators to www . intelligentdatacentres . com

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