Browsing environmental news sources so you don't have to. Contact Laura Barnes (lbarnes@istc.illinois.edu) with questions, comments, and suggestions.
Follow ENB on TwitterRead the full story in Greener Computing.
The Green Grid consortium is putting the final touches to a new Data Center Design Guide, which will aim to bring together the plethora of advice on how to curb energy use in firm’s server farms and provide a comprehensive overview of environmental best practices for data center managers.
Read the full story at GreenBiz.
IBM holds a lot of patents — in fact, it earned the most of any organization in 2008, with 4,186 new patents to its name.
And as readers of our sites should know, IBM is focused in a big way on sustainability and the role technology can play in achieving greener operations in any number of arenas, from water to supply chains, data centers to traffic.
But a new announcement from Big Blue this week serves to underscore the shifting role that technology can play in environmental issues, and how IBM is changing its own role to focus on that shift.
IBM yesterday announced the top five technologies developed under its Corporate Environmental Innovation Program in the past year, the five solutions that can have a significant impact on energy efficiency or environmental impacts.
Of the top five, only three are traditional IT-related technologies, with the remaining two falling under what has become known as “Green IT 2.0,” or technologies that can be applied to business operations beyond the data center or computer fleet, putting computing power to work on the firm’s environmental footprint.
Read the full story at GreenerComputing.
Fortune Data Centers’ San Jose facility earned the prestigious LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council last week, six months after opening the green facility.
With the certification, Fortune Data Centers has joined a very small number of LEED-rated data centers; the company estimated that it is one of only five such buildings in the United States.
The eight-megawatt data center can also brag a gold-star tenant: internet phenomenon Facebook confirmed that it is leasing some of the floor space in the facility, part of an ongoing expansion for the website, all of which has gone to green data centers, according to Data Center Knowledge.
Read the full story at Ars Technica.
The Green Grid, which helps the IT industry manage its energy use, has analyzed current and pending energy regulations in Europe, and concluded that datacenter managers need to be proactive about limiting their energy use and plan expansion carefully.
Read the full story in InfoWorld.
Companies worldwide are recognizing the value of embracing green tech — and not just IT vendors such as HP, IBM, Cisco, and Dell. Organizations large and small, from universities to SMBs to sprawling corporations such as Procter & Gamble, have embraced sustainable technology practices for one (or more) of the usual reasons: saving money on various forms of waste, cutting carbon emissions, complying with current or future legislation, and simply being better environmental stewards.
Read the full story at GreenerComputing.
In an hour-long webcast yesterday, IBM showed how putting the company’s own technology to work on overhauling its Lexington, Ky., data center highlights the potential of energy efficient IT projects.
The webcast, featuring IBM’s VP of Global Technology Services, Steven Sams, in conversation with GreenBiz.com Executive Editor Joel Makower, showed how CIOs are starting to take green IT seriously, and how IT can expand business operations while cutting costs companywide.
Read the full story at Ars Technica.
It’s estimated that the power a server burns over its lifetime will soon cost more than the server itself. A panel of industry speakers discussed a lot of options for saving power, and described how institutional issues can block their adoption.
Read the full story at GreenerComputing.
Green IT may be on the rise, but most IT professionals are not yet looking at the best ways of reducing computing’s impact: According to Gartner’s survey of IT managers, only 52 percent are actively measuring their data centers’ energy use.
Read the full story at GreenerComputing.
Today’s data center is going through a constant state of flux in an attempt to keep up with current demands. The data landscape grows exponentially, and with that growth comes the need to expand current storage and data center infrastructures. This expansion is a fact businesses in every vertical have come to accept, but it comes with a price.
Read the full post and comment at Software Advice.
In case you haven’t heard (or aren’t obsessively following IT trends like we are), the great trend in software is the evolution from traditional “on-premises” software (e.g. client/server software installed at the office) to Software as a Service (SaaS) (i.e. web-based applications that are managed in the vendors’ data center and accessed “on-demand” through a web browser).
Given what’s at stake for software companies in either camp, debating the merits of each model has led to some fiery discourse. We thought we’d fan the flames by introducing another angle: which model is “greener;” that is, better for the environment.
Read the full story at GreenerComputing.
Most data center managers keep their facilities much too cold — as much as 15 percent too cold, according to a server expert at Intel.
In an article by Rik Myslewski published yesterday in The Register, Dylan Larson, Intel’s director of server platform technology initiatives, explained last week that keeping data centers in the low 70s and high 60s leads to a significant amount of excess cooling, and wasted energy.
Read the full story in GreenerComputing.
Looking to get the most energy savings out of your data center? The newest technique, called “power-capping,” may be your answer, even though at first blush it sounds like a very scary proposition.
Power-capping does exactly what it says: It limits the amount of electricity that servers can consume at any given time. This not only controls the amount of electricity used in a data center, but also increases data center density. So enterprises save in two ways: Lower utility bills, and less real estate needed for their data center.
Read the full story at GreenBiz.
Walmart’s move to include green labels on all of its products that detail such things as the amount of energy used to make them is an excellent model for what should be done for Green IT. To date, although there are several green standards for computers and IT, none really hit the mark.
Download the publication at GreenerComputing.
It isn’t always easy to know where to begin in moving to greener and more efficient operations. With that in mind—along with Microsoft’s commitment to share best practices with the rest of the data center industry—this paper presents the top ten best business practices for environmentally sustainable data centers. The items in this list were submitted by senior members of Microsoft’s Global Foundation Services (GFS) Infrastructure Services team. Their backgrounds include expertise in server and chip development, data center electrical and mechanical engineering, power and cooling architecture and design, research and development, and business operations and administration.
Read the full story at ClimateBiz.
Companies using outsourced data centers can save thousands of dollars per year in energy costs, as well as make significant cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, according to a recent study.
Read the full story in Consulting & Specifying Engineer.
One of the most well-known landmarks in North America will soon be powering one of the most-visited websites in the world.
Internet search engine Yahoo has announced that its newest data center will be primarily powered by Niagara Falls, the nearly 170-ft high waterfalls located on the border between New York state and Canada. Ground will break in August 2009 and the center is expected to open in May 2010 in Lockport, N.Y.
Read the full story at GreenerComputing.
It was likely only a matter of time, but the global economic downturn has taken its toll on green IT projects, according to new research from Forrester.
Read the full story at Sustainable IT.
Green initiatives can take any number of forms, from energy-saving server virtualization initiatives to travel-cutting telepresence implementations to Earth-friendly e-waste recycling projects. Similarly, the underlying goal (or goals) behind a given green project can vary from company to company. One organization might have its sights set on reducing its carbon footprint. Another might be fixated on slashing energy bills. Yet another might be working to develop products that meet particular legislation (such a ROHS) or standards (such as Energy Star).
There is, however, one common thread among all green initiatives: In order to determine whether you’ve achieved your goals, you need to measure progress — be that in terms of reduced carbon emissions, kilowatt hours saved, tons of e-waste properly recycled, positive publicity received, increased employee morale from contributing to the greater good, and so forth. Without a means to measure progress, you have no way of knowing whether your green endeavors are bearing fruit.
Read the full story in GreenerComputing.
It’s well-known that information can make the difference in modifying behavior. Cisco is taking this concept to the operational level by installing Power Distribution Units on racks in data labs. PDUs don’t save energy themselves, but instead provide users with consumption and energy load information that can help users identify opportunities to improve efficiencies.
Read the full story at GreenerComputing.
At the end of my talk with IBM’s John Lamb about his book, “The Greening of IT,” and the state of green IT globally, I asked him to walk me through a little thought exercise.
In talking to companies both in the IT industry and beyond, I’m always struck by the range of levels of awareness about green issues in general and green IT in particular, so I asked John to do a quick rundown of the kinds of steps that he urges customers to think about taking when they look at green IT projects.
Starting with a company that’s brand-new to this to the next step of a company that has done some level of green IT project and has got buy-in at a higher level, and then finally looking at what a company should do once all the low-hanging fruit is done?
Read the full story at GreenerComputing.
John Lamb, an IT architect with IBM, is the author of the new book, The Greening of IT, a guidebook for optimizing IT infrastructure from top to bottom. Aimed at any level of the organization, from CEOs or CIOs to data center managers and sysadmins, the book digs in deep to some of the best existing ways for making IT systems as energy efficient as possible.
Read the full post at Sustainable IT.
Servers can now earn the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star label in recognition of their green qualities, but most observers aren’t expecting this program to cause substantial changes in how enterprises buy servers anytime soon.
Read the full post at Green Tech.
Yahoo thinks its plan for a new data center could eventually help the company achieve carbon-neutral status without having to resort to the purchase of carbon offsets.
Read the full story in Consulting & Specifying Engineer.
Retrofitting operating data centers is always tough. While there is no single answer, there are many products and solutions that can be used to help retrofit overloaded cooling systems. Close-coupled cooling systems, in conjunction with creating aisle containment, can add to the cooling capacity of the data center, while reducing its power usage effectiveness (PUE). This article explores some of the innovative designs and equipment available to improve cooling and overall data center efficiency.
Read the full story in Consulting & Specifying Engineer.
IBM, Syracuse University (SU), and New York State have entered into a multiyear agreement to build and operate a new computer data center on the university’s campus that will incorporate advanced infrastructure and smarter computing technologies to make it one of the most energy-efficient data centers in the world. The data center is expected to use 50% less energy than a typical data center today, making it one of the greenest computer centers in operation.
Read the full post at Sustainable IT.
The recent release of Energy Star requirements for servers may have coaxed a collective sigh of relief from datacenter operators who’ve felt the pressure to cut energy waste. The well-known Energy Star symbol, after all, is associated with energy efficiency. Thus, having that familiar logo stamped on a server might suggest it will deliver equal or better performance than its non-Energy Star rivals while consuming less electricity.
Unfortunately, the new Energy Star requirements for servers have enough shortcomings that they are unsuitable to be primary criteria for the purchase of new hardware equipment. That’s not to say they have no value whatsoever; as observed by Subodh Bapat, vice president of energy efficiency and distinguished engineer at Sun, they are “a good first step.”
Read the full story in the New York Times.
Efforts by countries worldwide to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase energy security are in trouble if nothing is done to check the energy gobbled by both information and communication technologies and consumer electronics.
This warning came in a report published yesterday in Paris by the International Energy Agency. The study warns that energy used by computers and consumer electronics will not only double by 2022, but increase threefold by 2030.
Read the full story in Environmental Leader.
A new study from Digital Realty Trust Inc., a wholesale datacenter provider, indicates that 73 percent of the survey participants identified energy efficiency as the key aspect of a green datacenter.
Read the full story at EWeek.
Google moved to publicly refute claims that its data centers and products are somehow energy inefficient, posting data on its blog that compares the energy used in a Google search against other everyday electricity-burning activities. Google CEO Eric Schmidt has placed his company at the forefront of the country’s energy debate, arguing that green IT can contribute to lowering the nation’s overall carbon footprint.
For the first time, EPA announced Energy Star requirements for computer servers that will protect the environment and result in significant energy savings. On average, computer servers that earn the Energy Star label will be 30 percent more energy efficient than standard servers.
If all servers sold in the United States meet this new specification, energy cost savings would grow to $800 million per year and prevent greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those from more 1 million vehicles.
Computer servers that earn the Energy Star label will include:
Awarding the Energy Star label to computer servers is part of a broader EPA initiative to address growing national data center energy consumption.
More information on the new specification and all EPA’s data center initiatives: http://www.energystar.gov/datacenters
Read the full post at Sustainable IT.
Data Center Manager tool kit allows companies to build software to manage or cap server power consumption and reduce energy costs in datacenters.
Read the full post at EcoGeek.
Data centers are typically very carefully controlled environments with large chillers keeping all the equipment at a regulated temperature. All of this cooling requires a large amount of energy, but data center developers are discovering a far less energy-demanding and low-tech way to keep things cool: outside air.
A trade group called The Green Grid that focuses on increasing energy efficiency in data centers has released online tools that allow data center operators to figure out if their center is a good candidate for outside cooling. Depending on the location and set up of the data center, the tool will calculate the possible energy and monetary savings of using outside cooling.
Read the full post at Sustainable IT.
Yet another corporation can attest to the benefits of embracing green-tech practices. At the world’s first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum-certified datacenter, financial behemoth Citi is using 70 percent less energy than would a conventional datacenter of equal size. That adds up to significant cost savings, combined with significant environmental gains.
Read the full post at Sustainable IT.
There’s a striking difference between the list of Green 15 winners from 2008 and 2009: In 2008, the list was dominated by companies in the tech industry, including EMC, HP, IBM, Fujitsu, NetApp, Sun, and Juniper. This year’s honorees represent a far more diverse array of industries, with winners such as Procter & Gamble, Burt’s Bees, the U.S. Navy, Con-Way Freight, GlaxoSmithKline, and California State University East Bay.
Indeed, green technology appears to be flourishing at organizations of all sizes around the globe, driven not only by good intentions and corporate social responsibility, but also business needs, such as cutting costs (electricity, fuel, paper, hardware refreshes, datacenter expansions, and travel) and boosting productivity.
Read the full story in InfoWorld.
Saving money using power management has been a well-worn mantra in the datacenter for some time, but now Gartner has put a cash figure on the likely cost savings from managing an organization’s PC power consumption: $43,300 per year.
Read the full post at Sustainable IT.
What’s the biggest power hog in the datacenter? Who urged the president to support green federal datacenters? Find out these answers and 23 more facts below
Read the full post at InfoWorld.
More CIOs are being tasked with reducing energy consumption. Here’s how to determine which areas to optimize.
Energy Efficiency: The New SLA
By Bruce Naegel
http://www.greenercomputing.com/feature/2009/01/13/energy-efficiency-the-new-sla
For years, IT organizations have been charged with ensuring the performance,
availability, and security of their environments. Now, as more and more data
centers are nearing their power and cooling capacities, a new SLA (service level
agreement) has emerged. Today’s IT managers must now also manage energy
efficiency — not as a one-time event, but as an ongoing business imperative.
Advanced Data Centers Saves Big with New Facility
http://www.greenercomputing.com/news/2009/01/13/adc-saves-big-new-data-center
In addition to saving an estimate $2 million per year in energy costs, the
company has also earned rebates on their electric bill for designing its
LEED-rated data center with energy efficiency in mind
Apple Puts Green Makeover at Risk with CSR Snub
By Danny Bradbury, BusinessGreen
http://greenercomputing.com/news/2009/01/14/apple-puts-green-makeover-risk-with-csr-snub
As the company unveils its latest “green” laptop at MacWorld Expo, Apple’s board
recommends shareholders vote down a resolution calling for greater CSR
reporting.
Consumer Electronics Forecast the State of the Green Art
http://greenercomputing.com/news/2009/01/12/consumer-electronics-show-green-tech
At the CES expo in Las Vegas last week, tech companies of all stripes showcased
the ways that green is expanding into our lives and our gadgets.
Firms Partnering with EPA Recycle More Than 66.5M Pounds of Electronics in 2008
http://greenercomputing.com/news/2009/01/09/firms-recycle-electronics
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reported the tally yesterday and said
it represents a 30 percent year-over-year increase in the amount of consumer
electronics recycled by manufacturers and retailers participating in the
agency’s Plug-In To eCycling program.
HP Ups E-Waste Efforts, Offers Easy Cash for Reusable Electronics
http://greenercomputing.com/news/2009/01/07/hp-offers-cash-reusable-electronics
After more than a billion pounds of electronics recycled or reused, Hewlett
Packard is stepping up the program, announcing a buyback and recycling program
for computers, accessories and other electronics.
Universities Feeling the Pinch on Computing Energy Costs
http://greenercomputing.com/news/2009/01/06/universities-computing-energy-costs
In response to exponential growth in computing needs — and the resulting growth
in energy bills — the world of higher education is taking a serious look at
energy management and green IT strategies.
Ooops! Harvard Scientist Says Google Carbon Footprint Figures Are Wrong
By Preston Gralla
http://www.greenercomputing.com/blog/2009/01/13/ooops-harvard-scientist-says-google-carbon-footprint-figures-are-wrong
Yesterday, I quoted a report that said a Harvard physicist found that a single
Google search generates 7g of CO2, about half the amount of carbon dioxide
generated when you boil a kettle of water for tea. It turns out that the report
is wrong — he never said anything of the sort.
Sentilla Raises $7.5 Million for IT Energy Management Services
By Ariel Schwartz
http://www.greenercomputing.com/blog/2009/01/08/sentilla-raises-seven-million
As if we needed any more proof that the IT energy management sector is growing,
California-based Sentilla Corp. announced this week that it has raised $7.5
million in Series B funding to bring wireless energy sensors to data centers.
HP Study: Green Data Center Is Key Concern of IT Pros
By Preston Gralla
http://www.greenercomputing.com/blog/2009/01/08/hp-study-green-data-center-is-key-concern-it-pros
A recently released study shows that Green IT is near the top of the list of
technology decision-makers, ahead of perennially important concerns such as
business continuity. This is one more indication that 2009 may be the Year of
Green IT.
Build a Green Data Center
http://www.greenercomputing.com/resources/resource/build-a-green-datacenter
This article from Dave Ohara at Microsoft’s TechNet offers advice for IT pros on
how to build and monitor a green data center.
If You Measure It, They Will Green: Energy Efficency Metrics plus Server Benchmarks
http://www.greenercomputing.com/resources/resource/energy-efficency-metrics-plus-server-benchmarks
This report from Info-Tech explores the ways that a shift in data center
economics is occurring, and explains how data centers can expect new green
responsibilities to measure and optimize power consumption.
Read the full post at Sustainable IT.
Odds are your company is tightening its belt for the upcoming year, given the sad state of the economy. Fortunately as a member of the IT department, you have the opportunity to help in the effort — if you’ve resolved to do so.
Following are some New Year’s resolutions to help your organization not only rein in energy waste but save money in the process. These resolutions shouldn’t represent major changes to your IT operations, though they will require some time, and in some cases, an up-front monetary investment. However, the return on the time and money spent should prove worthwhile and perhaps help set the stage for more investments in efficiency down the road.
HP Ups E-Waste Efforts, Offers Easy Cash for Reusable Electronics
http://www.greenercomputing.com/news/2009/01/07/hp-offers-cash-reusable-electronics
After more than a billion pounds of electronics recycled or reused, Hewlett
Packard is stepping up the program, announcing a buyback and recycling program
for computers, accessories and other electronics.
The Top Green Computing Stories of 2008
By Matthew Wheeland
http://www.greenercomputing.com/blog/2008/12/28/the-top-green-computing-stories-2008
The past year has brought a sea change in the world of IT, with big changes
underway in every aspect of computers’ lifecycles, as well as increasing
awareness of the power of the computer age to address larger environmental
issues.
Will Your Data Center Have to Pay a Carbon Tax?
By Preston Gralla
http://www.greenercomputing.com/blog/2009/01/05/will-your-data-center-have-pay-a-carbon-tax
One of the centerpieces of President-elect Obama’s energey plan is a
cap-and-trade program designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80% by 2050.
That means that enterprise may eventually have a cap put on the amount of
greenhouse gases they emit, and would have to pay if they wanted to exceed those
emissions. Would that mean you’ll have to pay what amounts to a carbon tax for
an inefficient data center?
The Top Ten Predictions for Green IT in 2009
By Preston Gralla
http://www.greenercomputing.com/blog/2008/12/30/top-ten-predictions-green-it-2009
Expect 2009 to be a breakout year for Green IT, with it taking a central role
not just in IT departments, but in the enterprise as a whole. The economic
meltdown, a big new stimulus package, and advances in technology will all
combine to put green IT directly at the center of how corporations operate.
Universities Feeling the Pinch on Computing Energy Costs
http://www.greenercomputing.com/news/2009/01/06/universities-computing-energy-costs
In response to exponential growth in computing needs — and the resulting growth
in energy bills — the world of higher education is taking a serious look at
energy management and green IT strategies.
Green IT Growing, Slowly, Despite Recession
http://www.greenercomputing.com/news/2009/01/05/green-it-growing-despite-recession
A survey by Computerworld magazine found that money, not environmental issues,
will drive the shift to more energy-efficient technologies in the coming year,
and small efforts with big paybacks may take center stage.
Pacific Northwest’s E-Waste ‘Paradigm Shift’ Launches Jan. 1
http://www.greenercomputing.com/news/2008/12/31/pacific-northwest-ewaste-program
A new “E-Cycling” program passed into law in Oregon and Washington takes effect
on New Year’s Day, requiring electronics manufacturers to recycled old hardware,
and promising to spur the growth of responsible e-waste disposal.
EPA’s Group Policy Objects Tool for Power Management
http://www.greenercomputing.com/resources/resource/epa-ez-gpo-power-management
The Environmental Protection Agency’s EZ GPO tool provides Group Policy Objects
for centrally configuring power management settings in a fleet of desktop and
laptop computers.
TIA’s E-Cycling Central
http://www.greenercomputing.com/resources/resource/tias-e-cycling-central
This website from the Telecommunications Industry Association helps you find
reuse and recycling programs across the country, as well as helpful tips on what
to look for in an electronics recycler.
Starting With the End: Designing Products for Reuse
By Sarah Fister Gale
http://www.greenercomputing.com/podcast/2008/12/24/starting-with-end-designing-products-re-use
Milliken and Co. has long subscribed to the belief that waste and pollution cost
money. Sustainability Director Bill Gregory speaks to GreenBiz Radio about how
the carpet industry is joining together to improve carpet recycling and the ways
in which end-of-life thinking has led to new products.
Read the full story in Network World.
Applications that can help to better manage power and cooling and improve management, automation, load and capacity administration of these servers, will be in demand across the Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) region.
Read the full story in Enterprise Management Quarterly.
Enterprises constantly evaluate their organizations to optimize costs. For IT managers, an economic squeeze means doing more with less as spending freezes can threaten energy efficiency goals.
However, careful planning and network design choices offer some of the smartest ways yet to maximize energy efficiency while controlling costs.
Read the full post in the Official Google Blog.
Hundreds of millions of users access our services through the web, and this traffic requires lots of computers. We strive to offer great Internet services while taking our energy use very seriously. That’s why, nearly a decade ago, we started work to optimize the energy efficiency of our servers and later set out to build the most environmentally sustainable data centers possible. We now believe that Google-designed data centers are the most efficient in the world.
Read the full story in EMQ.
Data center managers who follow the proactive steps outlined below will ensure their ability to monitor and control current data center power consumption while facilitating necessary changes to increase the efficiency of their operations.
It’s no secret that over the years, the speed and capability of computers has increased tremendously. The days of a simple computer taking up an entire room and using so much power it would cause the lights to dim are history. The problem is that even the high-speed, compact computers of today use a lot of energy. In turn, as we become more reliant on technology, the amount of electricity used by computers increases.
On Wednesday, Oct. 15, the University of Maine Computer Science Department is teaming up with SiCortex Inc. of Maynard, Mass. to demonstrate the first green supercomputer in Maine.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have released the report, Energy Efficiency in Data Centers: Recommendations for Government-Industry Coordination, which details the discussions and recommendations covered during a national strategy workshop on July 8, 2008. The workshop, convened by DOE and EPA, gathered representatives from industry, utilities, associations, and NGOs to identify the next steps for public and private collaboration toward advancing toward the goal of improved energy efficiency in data centers.
The report provides recommendations for key areas of collaboration between government and industry and detailed descriptions of interactive sessions in which workshop participants identified gaps and opportunities related to defining, advancing and rewarding energy efficient data centers. In addition, the report includes point papers presented by workshop presenters that highlight current trends in data center energy efficiency.
U.S. data centers consume a growing portion of the U.S. energy/electricity supply due to growing demand for the services they provide. Data centers used 61 billion kilowatt hours of electricity in 2006, representing 1.5% of all U.S. electricity consumption—double the amount consumed in 2000. Based on current trends, energy consumed by data centers will continue to grow by 12% per year.
The workshop and report are part of a joint national data center energy efficiency information program initiated by the U.S. DOE and the U.S. EPA. The program coordinates a wide variety of activities from both agencies including Save Energy Now, ENERGY STAR® for products and buildings, and the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP).
To view the report or to learn more about the national data center energy efficiency information program, visit DOE’s Partnering with Computer Data Centers Web page and EPA’s Enterprise Server and Data Center Energy Efficiency Initiatives Web page.
With the press of a large ‘I/O’ button and strobe lights simulating a “powering up” sequence, officials of the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) and University of California, San Diego ushered in the next era of data-intensive computing by dedicating a new, energy-efficient building extension as a key resource for UC San Diego and beyond.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008 at 11:00am PDT/1:00pm CDT/2:00pm EDT. The webcast is free and CE credits are available. Register now.
There’s a lot of talk about greening data centers; a lot of ideas and concepts floating around that are interesting, but often backed with little or no data. There also is a rush to build data centers and get them online quickly, and in doing so, owners, engineers, and managers may not be planning adequately for growth, or leading them selves into problems that will surface in the future in a very expensive way.
This one-hour Webcast will have three presentations by three experienced data center design engineers who will provide practical, detailed knowledge and experience aimed a helping engineers and owners design, build, and operate data centers with energy efficiency, modularity, and reliability in mind.
Read the full post at Sustainable IT.
Why settle for free cooling thanks to air-side economization when you can get free power and cooling from the sea — not to mention a nice tax break? That appears to the logic behind Google’s patented “water-based datacenter” design.
As reported this week by Rich Miller at Data Center Knowledge, Google filed a patent back in 2007 for a floating datacenter that “would be located 3 to 7 miles from shore, in 50 to 70 meters of water,” Miller writes. “If perfected, this approach could be used to build 40MW datacenters that don’t require real estate or property taxes.”
Read the full story from News.com.
Energy efficiency has always been a serious consideration of the tech industry. But executives from Cisco Systems and IBM here Tuesday said it’s become crucial as their customers are aware of rising energy costs.
One of their key areas of focus is the data center, or the room where a company houses its computer servers and data-storage hardware. Power usage related to data centers doubled from 2000 to 2006 to comprise about 1.5 percent of the energy Americans use annually, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Silicon Valley Leadership Group President Carl Guardino said that if the growth continues as expected, then U.S. companies will need 10 more power plants to generate their added electricity by 2012.
That’s why tech executives are examining new ways to design data centers and improve existing ones.
