A holistic approach to energy efficient data centers

Steve Hammond

Leading the Way to a Clean Energy Future

Only National Laboratory Dedicated Solely to Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

• Leading clean-energy innovation for 35 years

• 2540 employees with world-class facilities

• Campus is a living model of sustainable

energy

• Owned by the Department of Energy

• Operated by the Alliance for Sustainable

Energy

Laboratory Snapshot

Scope of Mission

Energy

Efficiency

Renewable

Energy

Systems

Integration

Market

Focus Residential

Buildings

Commercial

Buildings

Personal

and

Commercial

Vehicles

Solar

Wind and

Water

Biomass

Hydrogen

Geothermal

Grid

Infrastructure

Distributed

Energy

Interconnection

Battery and

Thermal

Storage

Transportation

Private Industry

Federal

Agencies

Defense Dept.

State/Local

Govt.

International

Focus on Buildings

National Renewable Energy Laboratory Innovation for Our Energy Future

Status U.S. Buildings:

• 39% of primary energy

• 71% of electricity

• 38% of carbon emissions

• +3% of electricity by data centers

DOE Goal:

• Cost effective, marketable zero energy

buildings by 2025

• Value of energy savings exceeds cost of

energy features on a cash flow basis

NREL Research Thrusts

• Whole building systems integration of

efficiency and renewable features

• Modeling and Simulation: building energy

optimization tools

• Building integrated PV

• NREL Research Support Facility

• LEED Platinum office building

• Uses 40% of the energy of typical office

buildings

• Model for sustainable commercial office

buildings

• On track for net-zero energy building.

• Space for ~1200 employees

• Construction cost $260 per sf similar

to other metro area buildings

Efficient Buildings

Key Design Features

• Fully day lit office wings

• Continuous insulation precast wall panels

with thermal mass

• Radiant heating and cooling

• Outdoor air preheating

• Transpired solar collector

• Datacenter waste heat

• Crawl space thermal storage

• Aggressive plug load control strategies

• Data center air-side economizer, hot aisle

containment

• Roof top and parking structure-based PV

http://www.nrel.gov/news/rsfnews/awards.html

National Renewable Energy Laboratory Innovation for Our Energy Future National Renewable Energy Laboratory Innovation for Our Energy Future

Every Watt Counts • Whole building energy use = 283 watts per occupant

• Includes enterprise data center.

• Personal habits represent ~1/3 of typical building energy use

• For every 1 watt continuous we save,

we avoid $33 of PV needed to offset this 1 watt

Energy System Integration Facility

8

LEED Platinum Building

ESIF HPC Data Center

• Showcase Facility – 10MW, 10,000 s.f.

– Leverage favorable climate

– Use evaporative rather mechanical cooling.

– Waste heat captured and used to heat labs & offices.

– World’s most energy efficient data center, PUE 1.06!

– Lower CapEx and OpEx.

• High Performance Computing – Petascale+ HPC Capability in 2012

– 20 year planning horizon

• 5 to 6 HPC generations.

– Energy Data Hub • Data mgmt, mining, analytics

– Insight Center • Scientific data visualization

• Collaboration and interaction.

Leveraged expertise in

energy efficient buildings to

focus on showcase data

center.

Chips to bricks approach.

National Renewable Energy Laboratory Innovation for Our Energy Future

Data Center Sustainability

Facility PUE

IT Power Consumption

Energy Re-use

Sustainability is a function of optimizing all three factors.

ESIF Data Center Electrical System

• Primary utilize 480 volt distribution to enhance energy efficiency, eliminate the losses and heat associated with PDU’s and step down transformers.

• UPS for 10% of peak load – Sufficient duration to allow generator to spin

up and protect critical components.

• Operate in ASHRAE TC 9.9

recommended range 99% of the time (~87 hours per year in allowable). – Allow forays into higher temps

• Dashboards to report instantaneous, seasonal and cumulative PUE values.

ESIF Data Center Mechanical System

• Focus on warm water cooling

– HPC equipment cooled indirectly with tower water.

– Pumps/water more efficient fans/air.

– Can capture 100% heat load dissipated to liquid

– Can manage up to 10% heat load to air.

• “Cooling” supply temp, 75F

• Return temp, 95F (20F delta T) or warmer

• Waste heat used in cold months to heat lab and

office space, temper inlet air, or ejected directly

outside when not needed.

• Waste heat also fed to district heating system.

• Data center equivalent of the “visible man” – Reveal not just boxes with blinky lights, but the inner

workings of the building as well.

– Tour views into pump room and mechanical spaces

– Color code pipes, LCD monitors

NREL ESIF Data Center Cross Section

Critical Data Center Considerations

• Warm water cooling • Pumps trump fans.

• Water much better working

fluid than air.

• No condensation worries.

• High power distribution • Eliminate conversions.

• Think outside the box • Don’t be satisfied with an

energy efficient data center

nestled on campus surrounded

by inefficient laboratory and

office buildings.

• Innovate, integrate, optimize.

National Renewable Energy Laboratory Innovation for Our Energy Future

Questions?

Discussion