WP#11 - Seven Strategies to Improve Data Center Cooling Efficiency

Overview

WP#11 is a Green Grid white paper dated 28 September 2009, presenting seven strategies to improve data centre cooling efficiency. A task force within The Green Grid identified the strategies. Access requires signing in with a free Green Grid account; the information in this record rests only on the abstract on the public library page, and the full text was not read.

The strategies target the cooling portion of the PUE metric. The paper states that, when properly implemented, they can reduce that share significantly. Its audience is operators looking for practical improvements in their existing rooms. The document therefore focuses on raising the cooling performance of a running facility rather than on design from scratch, and it lists measures that can be applied.

The record does not name the seven strategies one by one or give their numerical effects; these appear only in the full paper and are not given here. The strategies are, however, judged to map naturally onto airflow-management and set-point features in a design tool. ASHRAE TC9.9 Thermal Guidelines are named as a related reference, setting the limits within which temperature set points may be chosen.

The document dates from 2009, so for current equipment and operating conditions it should be read as principle-level advice. Its value for a designer is that it offers a framework linking cooling improvements to the cooling component of PUE. That framework suits showing, before and after, how much an individual measure gains. Detailed numerical expectations should be checked in the paper itself.

Key points

1. The white paper is dated 28 September 2009.
2. It presents seven strategies identified by a Green Grid task force.
3. The strategies target the cooling portion of the PUE metric.
4. The effect is described as significant when strategies are properly implemented.
5. The audience is operators seeking practical improvements in existing rooms.
6. The strategies map naturally onto airflow-management and set-point features in a design tool.
7. Related reference: ASHRAE TC9.9 Thermal Guidelines.
8. Access requires a free account sign-in; this record rests on the public page abstract.

Using it in design

• In the cooling advisor, tag each recommended measure (containment, set-point raise, economisation and so on) with its effect on the cooling component of PUE.
• Show a before/after PUE breakdown with the contribution of each measure presented separately.
• Evaluate set-point choices together with the limits of ASHRAE TC9.9 Thermal Guidelines.
• In retrofit scenarios for existing rooms, group measures under airflow management and set-point headings.

Who should read it

Operators planning to raise cooling efficiency in existing data centre rooms, and cooling designers.

Related standards

• ASHRAE TC9.9 Thermal Guidelines

Publication details

Authors

The Green Grid

Publisher

The Green Grid

Year

2009

Document number

WP 11

Document language

English

Source type

Industry body

Access

Citation only

Licence

Copyright retained; citation only — the publisher’s terms apply to the original document

Citation