Achieving Higher Levels of Energy Efficiency

Reducing costs and power usage through improved energy efficiency has been a frequent topic of discussion in the data center industry, a trend reflected in our Industry Perspectives columns at Data Center Knowledge. Throughout this past year, thought leaders have shared their expertise and opinions on energy use. We have selected several perspectives on power which represent the discussion. Enjoy!

Reaching Self-Actualization in IT Energy Efficiency
By Elisabeth Stahl, IBM, December 1, 2009
Data center operators can take the heat they don’t want in the data center and reuse it where needed, saving energy and lowering emissions. Companies around the world are already implementing this innovative heat reuse approach, sometimes referred to as "district heating."

How Digitization Drives Energy Efficiency
By Anthony Wanger, i/o Data Centers, December 10, 2009
The digitization of our economy has dramatically reduced the use of paper and transportation systems. Modern data centers supporting this process contribute to a significant reduction in carbon emissions and overall energy consumption.

Data Center Energy Efficiency Through BCM
By David Dunn, CoreSite, January 22, 2010
With economic events intensifying the need for a change in the way power is billed, branch circuit monitoring (BCM) is becoming a benchmark to help both customers and colocation providers face some of their biggest power monitoring challenges.

How Cap & Trade May Impact the Data Center
By Steve Yellen, Aperture Technologies/Emerson, February 9, 2010
Carbon emissions trading schemes are not specifically aimed at data centers, they will impact how data centers operate and the amount of energy used. As a result, data centers will need to implement mechanisms for monitoring, managing and reporting carbon emissions.

5 Ways to Reduce Data Center Power Costs
By Nathan Hatch, C7 Data Centers, March 2, 2010
Competitive pricing industry-wide requires that data center providers find smart and creative ways to keep power costs low. Here are five approaches that can help.

Energy Star for Data Centers: Help or Hype?
By David Dunn, CoreSite, July 6, 2010
The EPA's new Energy Star label for data centers isn't perfect, but provides motivation for data center operators to measure their energy use and may boost competition among providers on efficiency issues.

Putting Sustainability into Practice
By Deborah Grove, Grove Associates, September 21, 2010
Awareness of energy loss and other resource issues has risen in the data center industry, but the question remains: Are we deploying enough of the solutions that make data centers more sustainable?

Real Innovation is in the Applications
By Joe Polastre, Sentilla, December 9, 2010
While 80 percent of power is being consumed by IT equipment in the data center, the other 20 percent is being consumed by the power and cooling infrastructure. Why are we still talking about cooling innovations and overlooking hardware and software trends?

Delivering Airflow Efficiently for the Cloud
By Daniel Kennedy, Tate Access Floors, December 15, 2010
Cloud computing is changing the previously stable load environment in the data center. Directional airflow to the equipment can provide superior cooling capabilities to vertical airflow distribution.

Do you have something to say on a current data center topic? We welcome submissions from industry leaders. See our guidelines and submission process for information on participating. View previously published Industry Perspectives in our Knowledge Library.