Simple, 'fresh' thinking...
As a responsible business we are always looking for ways to reduce our carbon footprint. Our drive for efficiency comes from both a concern for the environment & a straight forward desire to save costs. The fact that our corporate moral duty & the impact on our (& our clients) bank accounts are aligned really doesn't leave room for any deliberation.
Per Kw of IT load, we use five times less energy than the average data centre...
As a result of the above and following extensive research our in house teams built an industry leading fresh air cooling system that only requires chillers for 5% of the year. The modular approach and constant fine tuning have driven our efficiency levels to such a degree that we use five times less power per Kw than the average data centre. The heat that is produced by the data centre is used when required to heat the main building. We also used the most efficient UPS systems available in order to keep losses to a minimum.
We operate a cold aisle containment system and rack blanking policy which further increases our efficiency levels.
Our green SLA gives an upper temperature limit of 26° C, which is well within operating tolerances of all equipment manufacturers whilst allowing us to avoid using valuable energy to unnecessarily cool the data centre.
To efficiency and beyond...
In addition to the above we are constantly striving to improve our efficiencies & impact on the environment, we are currently looking to introduce LED lighting systems & BIO-fuel generators.
Then, we do the obvious stuff...
Naturally as a company we recycle, reduce, reuse wherever possible. We even belong to the cycle to work scheme, although we haven’t figured out how to make the bikes power our coffee machine... yet.
Key Facts
A number of environmental considerations were primary factors in the planning & strategic decision making regarding our data centre, including:
- The opportunity to explore, question & take advantage of latest efficient technologies
- Favourable outside air temperatures
- The potential to recycle heat output into existing building
- Location allows cleaner air quality & increased lifecycle on filtration equipment.
- The opportunity to establish a green SLA from the beginning
- The opportunity to incorporate new environmental fire suppression systems
