Services – Operational Reviews & Audits

Cooling & Airflow Management Audits

An examination of site Cooling and Airflow Management Efficiency against industry standard criteria leading to an understanding of potential reductions in both energy usage and operating costs along with significant potential for site capacity increase. This service includes recommendations and implementation of risk free improvements and a demonstration of genuine short terms returns on investment. Typical minimum cooling energy savings in established data centres is 10% and can be as high as 24%.

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Objective

To fully understand current data centre site cooling efficiency and energy usage and energy saving opportunities in terms of both internationally accepted benchmarks and identified short term return on investment leading to recurring cost reductions and/or potential capacity improvements that can offset significant capital expenditure.

Methodology

The methodology will be site dependent and depend to a significant extent on the age and type of site as well as the particular challenges faced at the site. These may be age or design related issues. Capacity related issues or ICT deployment / installation issues. All reviews will be based on industry leading and internationally accepted benchmarks and the unique expertise of the consultancy team and their support partners. Legacy data centres in particular can benefit from dramatic reductions in cooling costs and increases in available capacity.

Cooling efficiency performance incorporates widely accepted industry benchmarks including the EU Code of Conduct on Data Centre Energy Efficiency and CEN/CENELEC TR50600-99-1 as well as a full understanding of true PUE figures according to ISO/IEC 30134-2.

Deliverables / Output

Report detailing current energy consumption and detailing potential opportunities for cost reductions and energy efficiency performance improvement. Opportunities for operating capacity improvements, particularly on the cooling side and the potential to release ‘Stranded Capacity’ will also be highlighted. An agreed project will offer to guarantee a minimum cooling cost reduction of at least 10% which will be underpinned by contract.

Outcomes / Benefits

A reliable understanding of potential energy saving benefits and identified return on investment from making recommended changes. This can be used as a business case for improvement projects that can result in year on year savings over the operational lifetime of the data centre. Improvements in utilisation of existing cooling capacity may also offer the opportunity to defer capital expenditure on new equipment or space.