Precision Cooling System Beats Energy Requirements with Year-round Free Cooling
New demands require modern organizations to rethink their data-centric environments, the ways they deliver critical resources, and how they can improve overall efficiency within their infrastructure. Today, facility managers, building owners and general contractors need to look at data-centric spaces from a different perspective. Managing things like environmental variables, cooling, energy, airflow, and even overall design are critical steps in creating a greener data center for a truly digital future.
A good design means everything for a healthy data center -- focusing on efficiency and the environment. Most data centers use almost as much non-computing or "overhead" energy (like cooling and power conversion) as they do to power their servers. Rising energy costs, needs around energy efficiencies, new airflow and cooling requirements, increased compute densities, and big data demands are driving data center managers to conserve things like electricity and make the most of what they expend.
By using smarter and more scalable platforms, organization can improve floor plan layouts, airflow, energy utilization, and much more. Solid environmental management platforms help empower your business to consume less energy, improve airflow, and trim infrastructure costs.
Better Airflow Management (AFM) to Create Greener Data Centers
AFM doesn’t just mean making sure you have hot and cold aisles. It goes even beyond making sure you don’t have hot spots in your data center. Deploying true AFM means taking a creative approach to making your data center run more efficiently. New types of air distribution methods, free cooling, and even application-specific control logic allow you to do some amazing things with airflow management.
Building Owners in the Efficiency Drivers Seat – The One Wilshire Story
In 2013, GI Partners paid almost $440 million for a 30-story building in downtown Los Angeles, California. At the time, it was a record dollar per square foot sale for a building. Why was it so important? One Wilshire sits over the fiber cable backbone from Asia. And, Fortune magazine coined the property the ‘Guardian of the Galaxy’ because 1 in 3 bits of information from or to Asia passes through the undersea capable coming into One Wilshire.
Looking at its origins, it was designed as an office building, and quickly constrained when it became a technology hub. There wasn’t enough air conditioning for the data centers and not enough room to add any additional. What were the needs? Significant increases in capacity, with incremental cooling growth to 4000 tons and additional utility and generator power of 20MVA. To get to that point, there needed to be a master plan to design for the future of the building – especially considering the limited space for infrastructure.
The Design
Data Aire and Swanson Rink teamed up, and together, they tossed out the Computer Room Air Conditioning (CRAC) rulebook to devise a ground-breaking economization solution that meets the growing demands of today’s ultra-modern data centers.
The result was a system that exceeds energy efficiency requirements in Los Angeles – with 50% plus hours of free cooling. “Instead of being restricted to standard systems that didn’t meet the needs of the customer,” said Gary Orazio, President of Swanson Rink, “we looked outside the box to find a solution that would meet the objectives of GI Partners. We went to the industry to find a manufacturer who could produce a system to meet our specifications. Data Aire stepped up and collaborated with our team to develop a custom solution for this unique environment.”
The Solution: Dual-cooling CRAC System
Data Aire developed a solution based on their gFocre Ultra. The enhanced system includes a host of changes, and most importantly, includes a variable speed compressor operated by a VFD. Data Aire’s Variable Speed Compressor adapts to cooling demands to stay in close sync with the heat load - providing significant energy savings.
The Outcome
The system can provide full-economization for 260 days– that’s almost 72% of the year! Furthermore, the projected PUE on an annual basis for a full load is at or below 1.2. And, it’s a system that focuses on minimum compressor usage and maximum free cooling. Finally, it’s a design that can facilitate growth even with limited space for infrastructure.
To learn more about maximizing your data center infrastructure investment download this guide: The Greener Future: Using Environmental Management Solutions to Build Sustainable Data Centers and Computer Rooms
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