| Shared by Pete Thomas Scamardo | | | | Paul Schlattman, vice president of ESD's Mission |
| When it's time to buy new equipment, IT buyers | | | | Critical Facilities Group, says to improve the PUE in a |
| should think green because it can result in significant | | | | data center for Allstate, it installed economizers that |
| savings for businesses, says The savings from new | | | | use outside air for cooling and raised the temperature |
| data center equipment comes from their lower | | | | of the chilled water so it takes less energy to |
| energy consumption, less heat and waste generation | | | | operate at warmer temperatures. This resulted in a |
| and longer life cycle. | | | | measured PUE of 1.34. |
| Case-in-point: Verizon's energy-efficiency standards | | | | The Green Grid consortium, together with several |
| for the company's suppliers of network equipment | | | | global government and industry organizations in the |
| saved 91 million kilowatt hours and prevented more | | | | U.S., Europe and Japan, recently agreed on guiding |
| than 114 million pounds of CO2 emissions. | | | | principles for globally accepted data center |
| A survey conducted by Digital Realty Trust last year | | | | energy-efficiency metrics using PUE rating at the |
| indicates that 73 percent of the respondents | | | | center of the industry's new preferred |
| identified energy efficiency as the key aspect of a | | | | energy-efficiency metric. |
| green data center. | | | | Other topics discussed include new building and data |
| IT stakeholders including those at Staples and | | | | center trends such as the migration to blade servers |
| Verizon provided with several tips for buying green. | | | | and virtualization software as well as green roofs, |
| First, they recommend that companies develop green | | | | space requirements, and retrofitting challenges. |
| specifications and standards as purchasing guidelines. | | | | Pete Thomas Scamardo |
| They should also include green performance clauses in | | | | A few more Green Tips for your everyday life |
| their contracts. | | | | # Live plants. Unless it is against your dorm rules, |
| Other recommendations include asking hardware and | | | | invest in a few live plants for your dorm room. Not |
| software vendors for refined power management | | | | only will it add a personal touch, but plants are a |
| capabilities and getting support from top | | | | great way to improve indoor air quality. |
| management for green equipment purchasing | | | | # Go used. While the shiny new stuff at the big box |
| initiatives. | | | | stores looks enticing, it is so much better to go retro |
| Power is also another important consideration | | | | and get used stuff instead. Visit a thrift shop or |
| because inefficient power consumption across many | | | | check out craigslist to see what is available. |
| servers can cause energy cost spikes. | | | | # Buy locally. Don't mess with shipping or otherwise |
| Recommendations include purchasing high-density | | | | transporting a ton of stuff from your parents' house |
| power and cooling solutions specifically designed for | | | | to your dorm. Instead, buy locally to save on the |
| smaller virtualized blade environments, buying | | | | transportation to and from each dorm move. |
| switches and routers equipped with power-aware | | | | # Get it free. Check out listings such as Freecycle or |
| ports for greater power savings, and shifting to | | | | Freesharing that provide free classifieds full of stuff |
| storage virtualization. | | | | people don't want anymore. |
| Power utilization efficiency (PUE) is one of the | | | | # Recycled furniture. Get creative with your furniture |
| biggest concerns in green data center designs, | | | | and use recycled parts to make awesome, unique |
| according to a question and answer interview with | | | | furniture. One idea is to place an old door across two |
| one of the country's leading data center design and | | | | file cabinets for an instant desk. |
| engineering firms Environmental Systems Design for | | | | |