Dollars, Cents, and Gigawatts: Online Tools Bind Great Power

42's Data Center Calculators illustrate the dramatic cost and carbon savings through efficiency efforts. The Gigawatt Age In 2006, peak demand from US data centers was estimated at seven (7) gigawatts. One (1) gigawatt represents one million kilowatts (kW) or one billion watts (W). The Environmental Protection Agency, in a 2007 report to Congress, relayed the most staggering numbers. Data center energy use in 2006 hit 61 billion kilowatt hours at a cost of $4.5 billion. By 2011, these numbers could hit 100 billion kilowatt hours and $7.5 billion if the industry takes a laissez-faire approach to efficiency. Though these servers are mostly out of sight, they are certainly not out of mind for industry authorities. Attend any data center conference or tradeshow and you are guaranteed to find "efficiency" and "green data center" topics in the program. The Business Case Despite this sobering news, a simple fact remains: businesses are businesses. Coupled with the traditional disconnect between IT/Facilities and a lot of new terms and metrics, many data center professionals may not know how and where to begin efficiency efforts. To help data center professionals tackle the important but complex topic of efficiency, 42U has developed two, free interactive calculators, available on 42U.com. These online tools hope to align all stakeholders in an ongoing data center efficiency program, where significant savings and operational improvements are possible. PUE/DCiE Calculator Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) is a new term in the data center lexicon, comparing a data center's total energy requirement to the energy consumed by the IT load. A smaller result is better, as it means more energy is devoted to the IT process (the denominator) while less energy is lost in conversion and support loads (minimizing the numerator). For example: Total Facility Load: 200kW/ Total IT Load: 120kW = 1.66 PUE Data Center Infrastructure Efficiency (DCiE) is simply the inverse of PUE, allowing efficiency to be expressed as a percentage: Total IT load: 120kW/ Total Facility Load: 200kW x 100 = 60% DCiE. With 42U's PUE Calculator, a data center operator does not need to know the origin or intricacies of PUE. If he can access his IT load (from the UPS), and his facility load (from the meter), he receives an initial PUE score. Energy Savings Calculator For more detailed calculations, 42U's Energy Savings Calculator makes use of the same formulas to project energy and CO2 savings over one, five, and ten years. Users start with their current PUE and then set a goal PUE- a lower value that's the result of improvements relevant to their facility. The difference between current PUE and goal PUE accounts for the potential energy and cost savings. Simple math shows that modest improvements can have considerable effect. A 1 megawatt facility (total load) at $.08 per kWh can save over $70K in energy costs and 528 Tons of CO2 emissions in going from a 2.0 PUE to a 1.8 PUE. If data center professionals are contemplating efficiency improvements, they can compare the cost of proposed solutions with their energy savings to determine their payback period. Equally if not more important are the potential capital expenditure savings (CAPEX). A more efficient data center reduces the need for additional equipment assets and potentially eliminates the need for construction projects. Conclusion PUE is a key ingredient in these online tools. Though not everyone has calculated it, the metric has perhaps gained the most traction of any in the industry. One of the reasons it succeeds is simplicity. While PUE appears to be universal as a formula, the results are a different story. What one data center can achieve may not be relevant to another. For instance, PUE is a dynamic value that varies over time and with workloads. So, while the cloud giants of the world publish and promote PUE numbers that hover between 1.15 and 1.25, we encourage data center professionals to take a critical look at what they can do to optimize their unique space. No one shares the exact same layout, equipment, applications, floor space, and set of challenges. Figure out what efficiency program aligns with your facility, your budget, and your goals. These online tools provide an excellent starting point for those conversations.