News
Half of Data Centre managers now going back to nature, according to new Green Grid research
49 per cent of data centres are now using economisers to achieve cost and energy reductions, according to the Green Grid. Research carried out earlier this year and now released publicly for the first time, show that the use of economisers has reached a tipping point, with half of respondents saying that they already used them and a further 24 per cent considering their use in the near future.
“We were not expecting such a high adoption figure when we began this research” explains Mark Monroe, Executive Director of The Green Grid.
“What we are witnessing is a technology that is maturing far faster than previously thought. We now need to make sure that data centre managers have the tools they need to understand how and what the best economiser options are for optimum deployment.”
The return on investment from adoption is convincing, with respondents registering an average saving of 20 per cent on energy costs and 7 per cent on maintenance costs.
Mark continued “interestingly our research found that despite these impressive results more can still be achieved. Responses showed that there is an average 4,724 hours per year available in which economisers can be used effectively, however their actual use amongst the sample averaged at 3,943 hours or 80 per cent of the time.”
The main reasons for the 20 per cent gap were concerns with switching over between economiser and mechanical cooling systems and maintenance of the economiser itself. Moving forward, we need to look at how we can tighten the transition between economiser and mechanical cooling technology and shorten required maintenance time.
The most significant barriers to change include difficulty in retrofitting existing facilities, reliability concerns and initial deployment costs.
However, the satisfaction levels indicated by the survey suggest that any challenges are worth it with 8 out of ten people saying that they would recommend their specific type of economiser to others.
- Posted on: 17th October 2011 at 12:00am
