HI MY NAME IS CHUCK POWERS, AND I WORK FOR THE NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY LAB. WELCOME
TO THE NREL RESEARCH SUPPORT FACILITY OR RSF FOR SHORT, HERE IN GOLDEN, COLORADO.
THE RSF IS A 360,000 SQUARE FOOT STATE-OF-THE ART FACILITY. ONE OF THE MOST ENERGY EFFICIENT
BUILDINGS IN THE WORLD. AND HOME TO ABOUT 1350 RESEARCHERS AND SUPPORT STAFF THAT ARE
FOCUSED ON DEVELOPING THE LATEST IN RENEWABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES.
ONE OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN THE RSF IS ITS ULTRA ENERGY EFFICIENT DATA
CENTER. DATA CENTERS ARE VERY ENERGY INTENSIVE. THE RSF DATA CENTER WAS DESIGNED TO USE 80%
LESS ENERGY THAN NREL’S OLD DATA CENTER THAT HAS BEEN IS USE FOR THE LAST 30 YEARS.
THE RSF DATA CENTER IS SOMETHING SPECIAL - COME ON AND LET’S HAVE A CLOSER LOOK.
THE RSF IS REALLY A GROUND BREAKING OFFICE BUILDING. NOT ONLY IS THE RSF IS LEED PLATINUM
CERTIFIED, IT IS ALSO NET ZERO ENERGY, MEANING ALL OF THE ENERGY FOR THE BUILDING IS GENERATED
ONSITE USING RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES. IN THIS CASE WE ARE USING SOLAR TO PRODUCE THE
ENERGY FOR THE BUILDING.
THE RSF WAS DESIGNED TO A WORLD-CLASS SHOWCASE FOR BEST PRACTICES FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION
OF ENERGY-EFFICIENT TECHNOLOGIES.
REALLY, THE RSF IS A MODEL FOR FUTURE ENERGY-EFFICIENT COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS.
BECAUSE MOST BUILDINGS OF THIS SIZE CONTAIN DATA CENTERS, WE MADE A CONSCIOUS DECISION
TO BUILD OUR NEW DATA CENTER IN THE RSF TO DEMONSTRATE OPPORTUNITIES TO OPTIMIZE DATA
CENTER POWER USAGE…
THIS RESULTED IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST ENERGY EFFICIENT DATA CENTERS
THAT HAS GOTTEN A LOT OF ATTENTION BY THE MEDIA.
POWER USAGE EFFECTIVENESS OR PUE IS USED TO EVALUATE THE ENERGY EFFICIENT FOR DATA CENTERS.
PUE IS CALCULATED BY DIVIDING ALL OF THE POWER REQUIRED IN THE DATA CENTER (ALL THE POWER
REQUIRED FOR THE COOLING SYSTEM, POWER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND EQUIPMENT BY THE POWER REQUIRED
FOR JUST THE EQUIPMENT).
MANY TRADITIONAL DATA CENTERS REQUIRE MORE THAT TWO WATTS FOR THE DATA CENTER’S COOLING
SYSTEM AND POWER MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS FOR EVERY WATT REQUIRED FOR EQUIPMENT (FOR EVERY WATT
REQUIRED FOR SERVERS, STORAGE AND NETWORK GEAR).
THE COOLING SYSTEM AND POWER MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS USED ON THE RSF ONLY REQUIRE 1/10TH OF ONE
WATT FOR EVERY WATT REQUIRED BY DATA CENTER EQUIPMENT.
THINK ABOUT IT, ALL OF THOSE SERVERS IN ROWS AND ROWS OF RACKS… THEY CAN USE A LOT OF
POWER AND GENERATE A LOT OF HEAT. IT TAKES ENERGY TO COOL THOSE SERVERS DOWN. MOST DATA
CENTERS USE AIR CONDITIONING, WHICH USES A LOT OF ENERGY.
NEARLY HALF THE ENERGY USED IN DATA CENTERS IS USED FOR COOLING. SO THAT’S A GOOD PLACE
TO START
IN OUR DATA CENTER INSTEAD OF USING AIR CONDITIONING, THERE ARE ACTUALLY TWO DIFFERENT AIR TREATMENT
SYSTEMS. ONE SYSTEM SUCKS HOT AIR OUT OF THE DATA CENTER. IN COLD MONTHS, THE HEAT IS REDISTRIBUTED
THROUGH THE BUILDING’S DUCT WORK TO HELP TO KEEP THE REST OF THE BUILDING WARM.
A SECOND SYSTEM PULLS IN FRESH AIR FROM THIS VENT. THE AIR CIRCULATES UNDERGROUND WHERE
THE CONSTANT TEMPERATURE IS ABOUT 54 DEGREES. FROM THERE, THE CHILLED AIR CIRCULATES THROUGH
A COMPLETELY SEPARATE SYSTEM AND COOLS THE DATA CENTER. AND FANS CIRCULATE THE COOL AIR
BACK TO THE SERVERS.
THANKS TO A CLIMATE RIPE FOR THESE EFFICIENCY METHODS, OUR DATA CENTER RARELY USES AIR CONDITIONING,
KEEP IN MIND, THE DATA CENTER IS ALWAYS WORKING -- 24/7.
SO WE USE ‘FREE COOLING’ AND TAKE EXTRA STEPS TO REALLY CONTROL THE AIRFLOW…
WE LAID OUT THE DATA CENTER IN A HOT AISLE – COLD AISLE CONFIRGUATION.
HERE’S HOW IT WORKS. COOL AIR IS DRAWN THROUGH THE SERVER FROM FRONT TO BACK, AND IT GETS
HOT AS IT PASSES THROUGH THE EQUIPMENT. THE HOT AIR IS EXHAUSTED OUT THE BACK OF THE SERVER.
WHAT WE DID WAS ARRANGE THE ROWS OF RACKS SO THAT THE HOT SIDES FACED EACH, CREATING
A HOT AISLE…
NOW, TO BETTER CONTROL THAT HOT AIIR, WE CREATED HOT AISLE CONTAINMENT, ENCLOSING THE HOT AISLES
FROM THE REST OF THE DATA CENTER USING A ROOF ON TOP… AND DOORS AT THE ENDS.
ANOTHER WAY TO KEEP THE HOT AIR AWAYFROM THE COOL AIR IS BY USING THESE THINGS.
THEY’RE CALL BLANKING PANELS. AND WHEREVER THERE ARE GAPS BETWEEN SERVERS IN RACKS, THESE
BLANKING PANELS HELP KEEP THE HOT AIR FROM LEAKING OUT OF THE HOT AISLE CREATING A BETTER
SELF-CONTAINED ENVIRONMENT.
BUT IT DOESN’T END THERE. ONE IMPORTANT POINT THAT YOU MAY NOT HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT
IS HOW YOUR CABLES ARE LAID OUT.
MESSY CABLING OBSTRUCTS THE AIRFLOW OF COOLING FANS AND THAT REQUIRES MORE ENERGY TO COOL.
IT’S A SIMPLE CONCEPT, BUT ORGANIZED, NEAT AND TIDY CABLES HELP ADD UP TO LESS ENERGY
USE!
SO THAT HANDLES THE COOLING PART OF THE EQUATION. BUT AS YOU KNOW, ALL DATA CENTERS NEED POWER.
AND FINDING MORE ENERGY EFFICIENT POWER WAS REALLY A NO-BRAINER.
EVERY DATA CENTER NEEDS AN UNINTERRUPTABLE POWER SUPPLY OR UPS. TO FIND A MORE ENERGY
EFFICIENT SOLUTION WAS REALLY LOW HANGING FRUIT.
ALL WE REALLY HAD TO DO WAS TO REPLACE OUR OLD 80% UPS SYSTEM WITH A NEW 97% ENERGY EFFICIENT
UPS SYSTEM. THIS INSTANTLY INCREASED OUR ENERGY EFFICIENCY BY 17%. YOU SEE, THESE NEWER UPS
DESIGNS REQUIRE LESS COOLING… AND THAT MEANS LESS ENERGY. THIS 97% ENERGY EFFICENT UPS
SYSTEM ALLOWS US TO SAVE 30 KILOWATTS ON OUR 100-KILOWATT LOAD FOR THE DATA CENTER. THAT’S
ALMOST A THIRD!
THE FINAL PIECE OF THE PUZZLE IN OUR EQUATION HAS TO DO WITH THE EQUIPMENT ITSELF. THERE
ARE TWO IMPORTANT THINGS TO CONSIDER IN THIS PART OF THE EQUATION - THE EQUIPMENT YOU SELECT
- AND USING THAT EQUIPMENT TO ITS FULL CAPACITY.
IN ORDER TO REACH OUR ENERGY GOALS FOR THE DATA CENTER, WE REPLACED OUR LEGACY SERVERS
WITH BLADE SERVERS THAT ARE 30% MORE EFFICIENT RIGHT OUT OF THE BOX.
THE BLADE SERVERS USE ENERGY EFFICIENT POWER SUPPLIES AND VARIABLE SPEED FANS TO ACHIEVE
ITS IMPROVED ENERGY EFFICIENCY.
TODAY’S SERVERS ARE MUCH SMALLER AND MORE CAPABLE.
SO THE OTHER WAY THAT WE REALLY INCREASE EFFICIENCY HERE AT NREL IS HOW WE USE THESE SERVERS.
VIRTUALIZATION OR CLOUD COMPUTING AS YOU MIGHT KNOW IT, INCREASES EFFICIENCIES DRAMATICALLY.
WE USE VIRTUALIZATION TO TAKE THE WORK LOAD THAT USED TO RUN ON 20 INDIVIDUAL SERVERS
AND RUN IT ON ONE ENERGY-EFFICIENT BLADE SERVER.
BY DOING THIS, WE HAVE REDUCED OUR POWER FOOTPRINT FOR ‘SERVERS’ BY MORE THAN 90%!
AT THIS TIME, 80% OF OUR SERVER ENVIRONMENT IS VIRTUALIZED.
HERE’S ANOTHER IMPORTANT POINT BY USING VIRTUALIZATION WE INCREASED OUR SERVER UTILIZATION
FROM 5% TO 70%! SO, WE NEED FAR FEWER SERVERS WHICH MEANS FAR LESS ENERGY.
SO, NOW YOU CAN SEE HOW OUR BEST-PRACTICES APPROACH TO COOLING. POWERAND EQUIPMENT ALL
WORK TOGETHER TO CREATE A HIGHLY EFFICIENT, HIGH PERFORMANCE DATA CENTER.
FROM THIS APPROACH, WE’VE BEEN ABLE TO SEE AN 80% REDUCTION IN POWER REQUIREMENTS FROM
OUR OLD SYSTEM - 80%! THINK ABOUT THAT. INSTEAD OF USING 2 WATTS OF POWER TO CREATE JUST 1
WATT OF OUTPUT. WE’RE NOW USING ONLY 1/10 OF A WATT. ALL WITHOUT SACRIFICING PERFORMANCE!
NOW THAT OUR DATA CENTER HAS PROVEN TO WORK AND WORK WELL, A LOT OF ATTENTION IS BEING
PAID TO THIS ACCOMPLISHMENT. THE WORK WE’VE DONE HERE HAS SET A NEW STANDARD IN DATA CENTERS
AROUND THE WORLD.
AND MANY OF THE TECHNIQUES HERE CAN BE APPLIED TO NEW DATA CENTER CONSTRUCTION OR RETROFITS.
I HOPE YOU’VE ENJOYED OUR TOUR THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME!