Can you upgrade to green by upgrading your AC? - by doug mohney

Views and Opinions on Green IT (Jul 15 2009)

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   Reducing power consumption in an existing data center might be as easy as – if such a thing is ever easy -- upgrading the air conditioners. Core4 Systems, a Napa start-up, says it can cut cooling costs up to 72 percent with its technology - a number vouched for by Core4's first customer, Sonic.Net.   Core4's solutions also cut water usage by up to 28 percent over legacy systems. 

   Unlike a traditional approach, Core4 provides an end-to-end solution starting with a site review of existing power and cooling needs to develop justification for energy rebates and ROI parameters.  Key system components are custom designed and manufactured for each data center environment – definitely not a one-size-fits-all approach to cooling.  Finally, Core4 manages the entire cooling system deployment process to optimize data center uptime.

   Core4 says it guarantees energy savings and rapid ROI with payback periods average two years.  The secret sauce for the company is applying technologies and techniques from the refrigeration industry to traditional data center cooling. For example, the company uses very large 28 inch angle-mounted fans that consume about the third of the power that a typical Liebert uses.  

   Sonic.Net's 5400 square foot data center in Santa Rosa, California is the poster child for Core4's work. The data center had maxed out its existing cooling capacity and needed to add capacity for new customers with high-density loads. Remarkably, Core4 ended up removing Liebert CRAC units that were only two years old, improving server to cooling ratio from 1.68:1 to 7:1 and reducing PUE from 1.82 to 1.25.

   While Core4 currently has the lead in "green" mindshare, other manufacturers are likely to start working on their efficiency stories as well.  Don't be surprised if you get an offer to "upgrade" from your existing vendor within the next twelve months.

   
   

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