The federal government’s Energy Star program provides a list of 12 Opportunities for Energy Savings in Data Centers(1). Enabled Energy is proud to say that all of the items listed as Airflow Management Strategies and HVAC Adjustments are part of their team’s daily work to support each of their clients. The list includes the following:
Airflow Management Strategies
- Take advantage of the “Hot Aisle/Cold Aisle” layout — Enabled Energy helps their clients design a layout for their servers that will optimize the advantage of hot and cold aisles.
- Contain or enclose your server racks — To further reduce mixing the cold supply air with the hot exhaust air (e.g., using flexible strip curtains or rigid enclosures), EE can design containment for your site.
- Retrofit your air conditioning with variable speed fan drives or EC Fans — EE installed retrofit kits for your CRACs have an average two year payback by being able to adjust fan speed to accommodate changing cooling loads in your data center.
- Review general air flow improvement tips — Talk to one of our engineers for the best recommendation of installation of things like blanking panels, structured cabling or grommets to improve operational efficiency of your CRACs.
HVAC Adjustments
- Adjust the temperature and humidity in your data center — Data centers can save 4% to 5% in energy costs for every 1°F increase in server inlet temperature, EE can help you determine the best set points for your facility.
- Install an air-side economizer — Bring outside cooling air into a building. Because data centers must be cooled 24/7, 365 days per year, air-side economizers may even make sense in hot climates, where they can take advantage of cooler evenings and winter air temperatures to save 60% on cooling.
- Install a water-side economizer — Use the evaporative cooling capacity of a cooling tower to produce chilled water during the winter months. During water-side economizer operation, costs of a chilled water plant are reduced by up to 70%.
Many of the world’s top data center operators enjoy quick paybacks when implementing the above strategies in their facilities. Enabled Energy help them implement the EE-Z Save Recommissioning Program to support their data center and their goals.
Contact us today at 303.761.9890 (or email for more information) if you are interested in learning more about the similar opportunities in your facility.
EN 
FR