Go to Cleantech Topic Page

Research Briefings

Report: Green Data Center Design Strategies

Summary:

Data centers are a critical component of many businesses these days, but because of the amount of electricity they consume, they are extremely expensive to run. However, a great deal can be done both to cut costs and reduce their environmental footprint, simply by making them more energy efficient. Online technologies and applications are creating skyrocketing demand for new data centers, and most enterprises are now seeking “greener” solutions, both in their own facilities, and in the facilities with which they do business. This report looks at innovations in green data center design and identifies key players — from major data center operators to startups solving specific issues — leading the charge.

  1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
  2. INTRODUCTION
    1. Energy Concerns Drive Investment
    2. Infrastructure Costs More to Run Than Servers
    3. Running on Empty
    4. To LEED or not to LEED?
    5. A New LEED Coming
    6. Metrics: PUE and DCiE
  3. MARKET FACTORS
    1. Market Challenge:  Demand Rising, But Recession Favors Incumbents
    2. Green Is Up While Economy Is Down
    3. Demand for Consultants Will Also Grow
    4. Government Stimulus Goes Green
  4. MONITORING AND MEASUREMENT
    1. Incentives: Power Companies Pay Customers Not to Use Their Product
  5. HEATING, VENTILATION AND COOLING (HVAC)
    1. Hot Machines
    2. Hot aisle/cold aisle containment
    3. Raised floors and plenums
    4. Computational Fluid-Dynamics (CFD)
    5. Free Cooling
      1. Air-side economizers
      2. Water-side economizers
      3. Raise the temperature
      4. Localized liquid cooling
      5. Active building envelope (ABE)
  6. MODULAR DATA CENTERS AND SYSTEMS
    1. Data Center in a Box
    2. Smaller Modules
  7. RENOVATION VS. CONSTRUCTION
  8. POWER CONSIDERATIONS
    1. Microgrids
    2. Fuel Cells
    3. Microturbines
    4. Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS)
      1. Flywheel UPS
      2. Supercapacitors
    5. Renewable Energy
      1. Solar power
      2. Wind power
      3. Marine power
  9. LIGHTING
    1. Motion Sensors
    2. Solid-State Lighting
  10. ADDITIONAL DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
  11. CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATIONS
  12. KEY PLAYERS
    1. Data Center Leaders
    2. Containerized Data Center R&D
    3. Monitoring, Modeling and Control