Data Center Energy Efficiency: The Savings Are in the Details

We all know that data center energy usage is growing at a pace that far outstrips demand growth in other areas. Gartner’s 13% Combined Annual Growth Rate metric has been in place for several years now and remains constant, while global non-data center engergy consumption growth averages 2.5% each year. As if that weren’t bad enough the cost of energy is soaring at the same time. Data centers, yours and mine included, are part of the problem. New server technology and increasing densities are part of the equation, but they are only a part. And they are a part that most FM’s do not have control over. When it comes to the data center most of us say we are in reactive mode most of the time, responding to IT initiatives that we may not have known about until the trouble calls started coming in. What then, can FM’s do to be ahead of the curve, increase energy efficiency, decrease energy expense and contribute to good environmental stewardship?

Not all of the answers to these questions are difficult or expensive. Even if you are not undertaking a major project you can work the details inside your data centers and likely improve performance in each of these areas.

Chase the Air: Start by making sure air flow efficiency is maximized in order to minimize cooling energy consumption. Walk the floor with a keen eye and look for leaks or improperly placed air grilles. Pay attention to plenum penetrations for piping and cables and make sure they are tightly sealed. Pull cabinets away from the wall and look for openings that may have been allowing air leakage for years. Check the ceiling and do the same. Look everywhere, find the leaks and seal them. All that wasted air flow means an air conditioning unit is running to produce it, and that means wasted energy consumption, not to mention increased maintenance costs.

Investigate the Air: Investing a few engineering dollars to develop Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) models of your data center air flow will likely be an eye opening exercise if you haven’t done it in some time. The CFD analysis will show you where your hot spots and cold spots are and illuminate other air flow issues.

Organize the Air: Use the CFD analysis data to prioritize low cost and self-help projects that will improve operational efficiency, such as creating hot and cold aisles that will cool your equipment in the most efficient manner. If the analysis points to bigger issues then use the data and science of the analysis to justify capital investments required to take on more substantial projects.

Data center operations can be thought of as a three legged stool. Mechanical systems that provide air to cool the center, electrical systems that provide power to both the mechanical and computing systems, and lastly the computers themselves. In order to truly maximize data center operations efficiency you will need to apply the same rigorous discipline to each leg, chasing the details and resolving issues where you find them.

Good luck in your search for the holy grail of data centers – infrastructure efficiency. It may be a long and arduous task but the rewards are well worth the effort. Besides, just think of how green the grass will be then!

Commercial Real Estate Catches A Break, Or Does It?

New guidelines recently issued by U.S. government agencies are directed at preserving the health and welfare of banks holding commercial property loans. The CRE market sector is in trouble with thousands of properties representing nearly a trillion dollars either in default, foreclosure or bankruptcy. The crisis represents a greater risk to the nation’s banking industry than the residential mortgage collapse.

The FDIC, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve have intervened with new guidelines that ease the pressure on banks. Essentially, they relaxed the definition of “performing” loans so that properties experiencing problems with cash flow, equity, or extended delays in selling can still be counted in this category. That means they will not be counted in “non-performing” categories and thusly not affect bank ratios negatively and push holding institutions into failure.

It gives the lending institutions a chance to work with their Commercial Real Estate (CRE) debtors in a more problem-solving manner, encouraging extensions, work outs and the like.

Good news, right? Yes. Well, maybe.

It is true that banks catch a break on this one, but what is really happening here? Yes, it helps ease the immediate pressure and that is important not only to the banks, but to their commercial and individual investors and customers as well. Taking the pressure off this way means the government does not have to come up with another trillion dollar rescue program – at least not for now.

But it does have the sense of “extend and pretend” about it. The numbers aren’t changing at all. These new guidelines don’t make properties any more valuable or speed a recovery. They are more about avoiding or delaying a collapse.

There is an opportunity cost to the market, however. Large capital has been staging on the sidelines waiting for distressed properties to become available at bargain (some would say rational) prices. This move by the Fed and other agencies will keep many properties out of the sale arena. That means new capital will not enter the system and brokers, architects and contractors will remain on the sideline. There will be a direct effect on rising and extended unemployment rates in these labor sectors.

Allowing CRE to undergo the kind of failure that residential real estate experienced would be yet another catastrophic blow to the economy, especially to those invested in organizations holding large CRE liabilities. On the other hand, it would have allowed properties to be purchased at prices which enabled the revitalization of not only the properties themselves but also an important labor segment, which in turn would have had a positive affect on the economy at large.

The economic crisis we still endure is a very complicated matter. There are no easy choices. In this instance the government acted to support the financial system. Let’s hope it turns out to be a wise decision.

Lease Green, But Know What It Means

Green leasing is in vogue these days and I suppose that’s a good thing. As with any initiative, however, it is important that it be done right; and that can vary from tenant to tenant and landlord to landlord. Many companies are taking advantage of current economic conditions to leverage concessions from landlords, renegotiating leases to lower rates in exchange for extended terms. More and more frequently green leasing is included in these discussions. For some it may even be a prime goal.

It is important that landlord and tenant agree on what their particular form of green lease will include. For some it may be as basic as assuring that building service providers use green products or that a good recycling program is in place. Others may set standards for common spaces, ventilation, natural light or other elements. Some property owners are investing in green building projects as a way of differentiating themselves in a tough market.

Aside from requiring consensus on what green means in a particular case, a green lease also brings accountability for measuring and reporting performance against the green lease standards. The parties must agree here also. What will be measured? What is the standard? How will it be reported? How often will it be reported?

The lease should also be specific and fair in how projects will be capitalized and benefits allocated. For example, an owner will have a hard time justifying capital to retrofit building energy systems to increase efficiency if the resulting benefit goes primarily to tenants. In short, the lease should be crystal clear on the questions of who is responsible for paying for projects or initiatives, how benefits are shared, tracking mechanisms and how differences of opinion will be resolved.

Tenants who occupy a majority or very large portion of a building have more leverage with the landlord and can help move the green initiative along. If this is you, don’t forget to network with other tenants in the building. Including them in the process will be beneficial to them and you, demonstrate your recognition of their role in the building and help speed acceptance by other tenants and the landlord.

Too Beautiful Not to Post

This post has nothing to do with facilities, operations, sustainability or leadership. Those normal subjects take a back seat (if there was one) to these beauties. For the car enthusiasts and speed freaks among us....enjoy.

Solar Power Goes Racing

Australia's World Solar Challenge race is off and running. http://www.earth-stream.com/outpage.php?s=18&id=211782

A Shifting Global Economy - Who’s Gaining and Who’s Losing?

You need look no further than the large corporate merger and acquisition scorecard to see that economic power is shifting around the globe. Ken Smith’s article in the June issue of the Harvard Business Review makes the case nicely and points to both risks and responses. But first, who are the gainers and the losers?

Gainers		Losers
France	$234B	U.S.	-$220B
Spain	$101B	U.K.	-$187B
Belgium	$79B	Canada	-$158B
Switzerland	$67B	Netherlands	-$111B
Germany	$53B	Turkey	-$24B
UAE	$37B	Chile	-$13B
Japan	$33B	Czech Republic	-$11B
Luxembourg	$30B	Hong Kong	-$9B
Australia	$20B	Indonesia	-$8B
China	$15B	Ukraine	-$8B

As with any shift scenario this one presents opportunity and risk. Organizations involved will need to work out operational details, resolve cross-border governance and decide how deep the shift will go. Will executive management location for the acquired unit remain or move to the gaining country? That is a key decision since moving the executives means that other key support functions such as Finance and Corporate Real Estate are likely to follow in order to maintain strategic and operational alignment.

Competitors will feel pressure to match an acquisition if they percieve a need to match either growth or offering expansion. Doing so smartly can help maintain competitive balance, executing poorly can create competitive separation.

As these M&A’s occur CRE and FM groups are challenged to keep pace. Operations must be aligned; and reporting and management systems must be integrated or shifted. Portfolio strategy and key alliance relationships will inevitably be affected, and CRE’s/FM’s must be proactive in doing so.

If You Can’t Follow the Moon Then Live in the Cloud

In the July 26 post to this blog I discussed the “follow the moon” strategy being implemented by some data operators. As beneficial as the moon strategy may be, however, it is only viable for organizations which possess both the need and capacitiy for such a distributed infrastructure. Most companies do not fall into that category. What then is a small to mid-size organization to do by way of providing needed computing capacity and application diversity while still supporting a green data initiative? One answer is cloud computing. Reduced to its basics, cloud computing is an infrastructure in which applications and their attendant servers belong to someone else. This “software as a service” (SaaS) approach allows you to access applications that are held remotely while the resulting files are maintained locally. Your subscription fee for the service then pays for not only the application license but also your proscribed share of development and operating costs.

David Bradshaw, International Data Corporation research manager for European software as a service, says "… it is clear that SaaS has become accepted by the mainstream of user organizations around Europe. This will result in continued strong growth, making SaaS a rising star in a very largely depressed European software market." He goes on to note that that the overall European SaaS market will grow from €237 million in 2004 to a projected €6,005 million in 2013 (as of April 2009).

Here in the U.S. we see a similar pattern. One noteable market segment that is shifting to cloud computing is the education sector. In some cases entire college districts or systems are converting to a cloud architecture, allowing the system or students to purchase netbook computers at a typical cost of $200 USD instead of something ten times that amount. This is a good example of a disbursed enterprise with diverse computing needs. The cloud solution allows standardization on an affordable computing platform with access to a wide array of software.

In a small business context the solution may be as simple as Google Apps, Yahoo’s Zimbra or one of the other products of similar ilk. Again, this allows you access to a wide variety of software at a fraction of the cost of owning the software, shifts responsibility for software updates and maintenance to the provider, and allows you the option of downsizing the cost of your computing hardware.

Following the moon isn’t for everybody and neither is cloud computing, but the cloud offers substantial benefit to a much wider set of enterprises. Software diversity, cost avoidance, time saved supporting your software and other advantages are all make the cloud an attractive solution.