Even Data Centers Can Be Green

By Brian George, a principal with Dallas-based
Corgan Associates.

Many responsible corporations are incorporating design elements to achieve greater reductions in environmental impact and carbon footprint. While they may not earn LEED points, they do reduce energy consumption and pollution.

Outside of industrial users, data centers have become today’s “poster child” for conspicuous consumption of energy. These dedicated facilities contain virtually nothing but thousands of servers and data storage devices. Data Centers will only increase in size and power consumption as storage requirements for electronic data continues to increase by orders of great magnitude. Electrical density on the raised floor may be 100, 200 or even 500 Watts per-sq-ft, as opposed to 10 Watts per-square-foot for an office building. Also, the electrical usage for these facilities is measured in Megawatts, millions of Watts. It is not uncommon to build a new dedicated utility substation of 20 Megawatts or more just to support a single Data Center.

Can these buildings ever seriously be considered “green”?

Pressure on corporations to be environmentally responsible has increased dramatically. Much of this comes from the stockholders, requiring corporations to explain their environmentally responsible actions in simple and persuasive terms. This rapidly spreading attitude among corporations has led to the success of the U.S. Green Building Council in establishing Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Certification as the measure of environmental responsibility, yet the success of the message has created an ironic situation.

The irony is this: “LEED certified” has become the singular accepted shorthand for environmentally responsible design. LEED criteria however, are focused strongly on spaces that are occupied by people. The environmental impact of data centers is due to the computers and the infrastructure support equipment.

At the corporate level LEED certification is understood as responsible design. Any more lengthy explanation is too cumbersome to explain up the chain of command and then to the stockholders. LEED certification for a data center, however, may not have much effect on the true environmental impact of these facilities.

So what is a responsible owner to do? Get LEED certification, and then continue making many other responsible decisions. Here are some suggestions for earning credit toward a LEED point:

•Install motion sensor lighting control in the offices; also use a similar system to reduce lighting levels when possible in the thousands of sq ft of the data hall.

•Install an under-floor, air-delivery system for the few office cubicles; also install central humidification systems so the computer room air handlers are not using excess energy by humidifying and de-humidifying at the same time.

•Use renewable sources of wood; also eliminate lead acid batteries by shortening the UPS battery back-up to 12 minutes instead of 15 minutes.

•Install an electric car charging station; also specify high-efficiency windings for the transformers.

• Buy green energy; also specify a lower kW/ton chiller efficiency.

The opportunities are available to make environmentally responsible decisions in the design of data centers, but it takes more skill, time and evaluation. Some decisions are safe in terms of not jeopardizing facility operations, but many others must bear careful scrutiny. The benefits must be justified in terms of risk to operations. The first goal of these facilities – continuous operation – must be safe guarded.

To its advantage, some aspects of designing a data center naturally lead to good environmental design. For instance, the significant setbacks that are required for berms and other security elements are great locations to establish wildlife habitat as well as provide vegetated areas to reduce the heat island effects of paving. Storm water detention/retention ponds may also do triple duty as storm water control, storage for back-up cooling tower make-up water and wildlife habitat. Low occupant loads allow pursuit of variances to reduce parking areas and the associated heat islands, pollution and run-off issues. Also, large roof areas, with no mechanical equipment, provide opportunities for storm-water collection.