by Scott Harris, McKinstry — Operating a data center is risky business. Interrupt service for just a moment, and it may cost tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars. That’s why data center owners have poured millions of dollars into redundant systems that protect uptime at all costs. However, these systems come at a price: sky-high energy use.
The price goes beyond utility bills. External pressure is rising on data centers to reduce their carbon footprint. Several high-profile news stories and watchdog reports have brought the issue into the public consciousness, and robust sustainability reporting is becoming the norm. Additionally, many local and state governments have either put into place or are considering regulations on energy use and carbon emissions, creating uncertainty around the long-term legislative landscape. These external pressures, combined with internal financial pressure, make unchecked energy use a major risk factor.
Growing pressure to go green
Public consciousness about the high demand for energy at data centers is growing. In 2010, The New York Times ran an investigative piece on major tech companies operating their high-energy data centers in rural areas with little oversight. In 2012, Greenpeace started handing out letter grades to data center owners for their overall sustainability performance. Major corporations had to suffer the ignominy of headlines that listed them as “failing” on data center sustainability in comparison to their competitors. Reports addressing the current state of affairs and areas in which there is progress to be made have continued to emerge, often issued directly by these companies.
The pressure is rising from governments as well. In the U.S., places like California and the City of Seattle now mandate public reporting of energy use. This kind of transparency can potentially lead to unpleasant pressure from either government officials whose goal is to reduce energy use across their jurisdiction, or from third-party organizations looking to shed light on high energy users. Many city and state governments have also instituted carbon reduction plans, and may look to institute market-based plans to push emission reductions.
Pressure comes from within the organizations themselves, too. Activist shareholders as well as those focused solely on the bottom line may see excessive energy use in data centers as a symptom of poor management. Managers and executives looking to burnish their sustainability credentials or simply cut costs may see data center energy usage as an opportunity to make significant changes in the organization. Public relations and marketing teams may want to see more action behind the words with sustainability teams providing a form of oversight. Where exactly the internal pressure comes from depends on the organization, but assuming it won’t come at all turns a blind eye to a potential, and significant, risk on the horizon.
In the end, managing energy is about managing risk. Without insight into energy use, and the authority to affect change based on that information, companies are risking money, the ability to make effective long-range plans and their reputation. Sustainability, carbon reporting and effective energy management are, at the big-picture level, inescapably upward trends. Finding ways to be ahead of the curve is what good companies do when they plan for the future, and energy management can significantly offset this potential risk.
Total mindset shift
Many organizations have already embarked on top-to-bottom changes to address the growing push for cleaner, more efficient data environments. As both public and private stakeholders become increasingly savvy regarding the relationship between big data and the environment, relying solely on surface-level gestures toward sustainability (such as carbon offsets or renewable energy credits) is precarious and unproductive.
Moving toward green data centers requires a complete mindset shift in how organizations design, build, operate and maintain these assets. No matter whether this transition is driven by cost factors (capital and operating expenses), by environmental responsibility (reduction of operational carbon footprint) or by some combination of the two, the only way to achieve meaningful impact is to truly prioritize sustainable data centers through energy management, facility location, energy-efficient design and on-site power generation.
Tactics of going green
Energy management
Reducing energy consumption is a key element of operating more sustainably. There are a number of measures that can be implemented at existing facilities to reduce energy consumption, and the right package of facility improvements varies according to the specific systems and performance levels at each site.
The first step, however, is tracking and benchmarking energy consumption. Energy usage can be captured on a periodic basis by performing detailed energy audits, either as standalone consultative reports or as the precursor to identifying potential energy conservation measures. Data center managers can gain a better understanding of their costs and opportunities for improvement by monitoring and benchmarking energy usage on an ongoing basis.
Many facility owners elect to go a step further and employ a dedicated energy manager whose full-time job is to find ways to reduce power consumption, either for a single data center or a multi-facility portfolio. This role is charged with implementing a full energy management program that achieves the organization’s sustainability goals.
Sustainability factors in site selection
For most organizations, energy is included in the complex process of determining the location of a new data center but is a lower priority compared to utility infrastructure, geographic reliability, ease of permitting and government incentives.
Clearly and publicly incorporating energy concerns (beyond cost) as a core evaluation dynamic in site selection demonstrates an organization’s commitment to sustainability as a part of the evolution of the data center portfolio. Factors that should be considered include:
- How clean is the power feed? During site selection, each locale’s utility feeds are primarily evaluated in terms of reliability and capacity. But when making a commitment to cleaner data, it is equally important to weigh the fuel sources supplying a local utility. Some utilities are beginning to deliver substantial amounts of clean energy and efficiency, while others are far behind.
Committing to a site served by utilities with primarily “dirty” fuel sources makes it more difficult to drastically change the true carbon footprint of the facility overall. By contrast, selecting a site whose local utility commits to green or lower carbon fuel sources dramatically improves the facility’s sustainability.
- Location dictates consumption. Cooling a data center requires a substantial amount of power throughout the year. Cooler, drier climates help decrease the energy consumed. Such climates can also enable the use of a variety of free cooling systems and strategies that can reduce the need for cold air generation, particularly in winter months.
Energy-efficient design
Due to the increasing cost of energy and the focus on reducing carbon emissions, many data center owners are now reevaluating how they design their critical facility redundancy schemes. The previous mindset was to always deploy the most hardened designs for the entire network to protect all applications within the facility from downtime equally. The “tier” system defined by the Uptime Institute is based on the notion of uniform hardware availability throughout the entire site. However, when reviewed, many of the applications are not as critical, or don’t require the same resiliency as others.
In many cases, owners realize too late they could save capital during construction by deploying varying levels of equipment redundancy, which also reduces operating expenses by lowering the amount of unnecessary equipment. This allows for multi-tier facility site designs, or enables the owner to build lower-tier facilities that meet uptime requirements at a lower cost.
Recently published case studies have also shown that sites that deploy a blended UPS (uninterrupted power supply)/utility IT power scheme can achieve a similar level of reliability to the traditional models with multiple UPS/IT power schemes. This empowers site designers to remove additional failure points and maintenance requirements from the systems without significantly impacting uptime.
Incorporating energy-efficient designs is also becoming a best practice in the industry. This includes installing containment systems that segregate the hot and cold aisles, which increases HVAC efficiency and allows for higher operating temperatures. Another prevalent industry trend is the move to adiabatic or evaporative cooling. However, this option comes with a limitation: although it reduces the mechanical power demands of the facility, it increases water consumption. Choosing to use evaporative cooling should depend on the specific resource needs of the location.
Onsite power generation
The environmental impact and carbon footprint of data centers can also be reduced through investments in onsite renewable power generation options such as solar, wind and geothermal. In addition to lowering utility costs, drawing primary power from onsite generation protects data centers from power spikes and other events that can cause outages and equipment damage.
Onsite power generation requires significant capital outlay. As a result, this is often a more viable option for larger organizations with data centers whose scale requires amounts of power large enough to justify an expenditure for a large solar array or wind farm. Generating all of the power required for a data center may be cost prohibitive from a capital standpoint, but many data center owners are electing to go to the hybrid route and utilize onsite renewables to augment utility-based energy.
Another trend in onsite power generation is the deployment of lower carbon emission systems such as natural gas fuel cells. These systems can provide onsite primary power or as a method to augment the grid power supply with cleaner energy.
Strategic moves
The tactical approaches above can improve energy efficiency and sustainability across a data center or a portfolio of facilities. More dramatic changes throughout a company can transform an entire organization from energy mega-consumer to sustainability advocate.
Accountability
The easiest way to demonstrate commitment to sustainability is to incorporate real sustainability goals into organization-wide and employee goal planning. This challenges the entire organization with high-level goals that are driven down to departments and from there to individual employees. Developing an accountability plan for each person in an organization eliminates the mindset that “someone else is responsible for sustainability.”
Transparency
Real improvement on sustainability demands that an organization move beyond the old notion that information on energy and carbon performance should be secret. Data center operators have traditionally been reluctant to publicize meaningful data about the usage and sources of energy at their facilities.
The companies and institutions that run some of the largest data centers in the world are beginning to understand that disclosing environmental performance through public reports and dashboards actually helps boost their green profile and helps drive ongoing, meaningful change.
Thought leadership
The companies and organizations that build and operate data centers have considerable sway with regional utilities, government on multiple levels, and the designers/manufacturers of core infrastructure systems within the data center. That level of collective influence can be leveraged to help drive substantial improvements to the energy mix utilities are providing, innovations in the energy efficiency of data center operations and financial incentives for using clean energy. At a minimum, data center operators should make a commitment to being a key part of energy policy conversation and decision making process.
Scott Harris holds the position of energy manager at McKinstry, a full-service design, build, operate and maintain firm. Harris is responsible for the implementation of energy management programs for McKinstry’s facility management clients, based upon their energy and sustainability goals. His experience in energy management, specifically in critical environments, allows him to make crucial decisions across disciplines.
Harris is also a regular participant with data center industry groups such as The Green Grid, 7×24 Exchange and Uptime Institute.