The role of innovating cooling technology in the sustainable data centre

An overview of the award-winning Boden Type DC project, which is accredited with being the world’s most efficient data centre. There will also be a look at the fresh air cooling market, explaining where this cooling method, as used in the Boden Project, is being used more widely.

Data centers are a huge part of todays’ economy, with both businesses and people connected 24/7. However, along with this usage comes a huge drain on our energy resources. Recent studies show that energy consumed by data centers in the U.S alone has doubled over the last five years. With the growth of cloud computing and HPC (High Performance Computing) and the energy required to operate them, this trend is not disappearing anytime soon. What can data center and facility managers do to get greener, more sustainable, and lower the overall cost to operate a data center? Always install containment! Containment is the fastest, easiest, and most cost effective strategy to going green while simultaneously lowering overall energy and operating costs in the data center.

Datacenters represent the nervous system of our society inevitably projected towards a digital future. This transition though seems to need some readjustments, to make innovation smarter and sustainable. Actually, datacenters are responsible for 1% of the world’s electricity consumption and about 0.5% of CO2 emission. As recently confirmed by Science, from 2010 to 2018, the skyrocketing growth of storage capacity, network traffic and computing volumes, determined a +6% increase in the energy consumption of datacenters. In a traditional datacenter, about 40% of the electricity consumption is determined by cooling and this is clearly not a smart approach to energy consumption. Submer’s ambition is to transform traditional datacenters into smart lights-out immersion cooled “data warehouses” driven by robotics – immersion cooling being just the first piece of the puzzle in those next generation infrastructures. In his presentation, Daniel Pope will analyse the impact of datacenters in the environment, and explain the practical and economic benefits of Immersion Cooling, the role of AI in datacenters and how AI together with Immersion Cooling can contribute to create Datacenters that make sense.

There is a growing demand for sustainability as dwindling natural resources and the negative impact of over-consumption of these resources have become more evident in recent years. This has firmly put the spotlight on the need to reduce the burden on the eco-system while ensuring good working conditions. Central to this goal is an increased focus on reducing energy to help cut emissions of greenhouse gases and limit climate change. Systemair is a leading HVAC company with roots in Scandinavia and sustainability is deeply embedded within the corporate culture. The Group takes a holistic and integrated approach towards contributing to a more sustainable society by developing energy- and material-efficient products and by focusing continuously on improving our processes with regard to energy consumption. Systemair aims to positively contribute to a better future keeping in mind major trends in society in the context of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the EU directives on energy conservation requirements. Listen to Anna Kondratenko and Par Johansson sharing their thoughts on the impact of datacenter cooling in the presentation “The Role of Innovative Cooling Technology in the Sustainable Data Centre”. Together they have more than 40 years experience from the HVAC industry and have seen the industry become more and more sustainable.

In this session Dan Hyman will discuss a quick review of current cooling technologies and best practices for maintaining temperature and humidity requirements in a modern data center. The pros and cons of current technologies when applied in different locations, what sustainable means to different users and in different locations, and what it costs to be sustainable.

Chip density and ever more heat producing peripheral items in the “box” mean we are at the limits of air cooling both in its technical and environmentally desirable senses. Unless we change, costs and reputations will be irreparably damaged. Regional climates where previously defined cooling practices were sufficient to meet technology requirements are now in review, in light of global pressure on sustainability and data centre financial requirements. This session will discuss the key choices data centre operators and customers must make.

This session takes a high-level look at how the data center industry is changing and the role energy challenges, data growth and liquid cooling is playing as part of this transition. The Open Compute Project has claimed a leading role in driving the necessary change in a global ecosystem with a basis of collaboration and community-driven initiatives. With this solid foundation which is carried by the most influential industry organisations, it is the right time to set ambitious goals on decarbonisation and efficiency within one of the most energy-intense industries, as we now have all the building blocks to achieve major milestones.