by AF0602 f5 — June 4, 2010—The Acuity Solution energy management system by Agentis Energy has been installed at the University of Chicago Medical Center data center. It gives the center a new capability for monitoring electricity costs and implementing clean technology, the company announced.
The Acuity Solution tracks kilowatt-hours of usage in real time, calculates electricity costs, reports on demand, and identifies opportunities for savings in the data center.
“The power draw of the servers themselves and the need to keep them in temperature-controlled environments makes data centers particularly energy-intensive,” said Tony Rubino, Director of Networking and Data Center facilities at the Medical Center. “The Agentis technology provides a tool to help us to manage energy use more effectively and advance the sustainability program to which the Medical Center is committed.”
At the Medical Center data facility, Agentis Energy installed equipment for systemwide and device-specific monitoring of electricity consumption. A monitor called Acuity Apex is attached to the utility meter for the overall facility and registers the pulses that report usage in kilowatt hours.
Submeters directly measure electricity use by each set of servers in the server room. The data is sent via a router to a dedicated energy management Web portal developed by Agentis Energy in collaboration with the Medical Center. In addition, the managers of the facility receive timely email alerts on their electricity demand.
“While utility companies measure demand by averaging power consumption over a period of time, Agentis Energy technology makes possible near-instantaneous monitoring of consumption, providing a clear idea of which devices are drawing the power, sending alerts when demand is peaking, and in general giving companies and institutions greater awareness about the details of their energy costs,” said Tim Stojka, CEO of Agentis Energy.
For more information, see the Agentis Energy Web site.
