WP#41 - Survey Results: Data Center Economizer Use

Overview

The paper presents the results of a survey carried out by The Green Grid in early 2011 and is dated 10 October 2011. The survey topic is awareness, perception and use of economizers in the data center industry. The authors are Jessica Kaiser, John Bean, Tom Harvey, Michael Patterson and Jessica Winiecki. This record rests only on the abstract and details on the library's public landing page; a free account sign-in is required for the full text. The method is a survey, so the results are respondents' reported awareness, opinions and practice rather than measured energy savings.

The abstract gives no numeric breakdown of which economizer types are used or in what proportion, so no percentages or site counts are stated here. What can be taken from the paper is the general trend. The main finding is that economizers were well known across the industry and that adoption was becoming fairly widespread. This suggests that free cooling was no longer considered rare or experimental but an ordinary option to be evaluated at the start of cooling design.

The design reading of this is that economizer options should be offered by default in the cooling design workflow. The limits of the paper are clear. It dates from 2011 and does not reflect later practice, changes in operating temperature ranges or newer cooling technologies. ASHRAE 90.4 is named as a related standard; economizer use is read together with documents of this kind, which discuss energy-efficiency requirements.

Key points

1. The paper is dated 10 October 2011.
2. The survey was conducted in early 2011.
3. It covers awareness, perceptions and use of economizers.
4. Economizers were found to be well known across the industry, with fairly widespread adoption.
5. Results are survey data, not measured energy savings.
6. The record rests only on the library's public abstract page; the full text needs a free account sign-in.
7. ASHRAE 90.4 is named as a related standard.

Using it in design

• Offer air-side and water-side economizer modes by default in the cooling wizard.
• Compute economizer hours from site weather data.
• Cite the survey context in help text to show that economizers are a common practice.
• Ask for the rationale to be documented in designs that disable the economizer option.
• Use the results only as context, not as a quantitative benchmark.

Who should read it

Mechanical designers and energy-efficiency consultants evaluating economizer options in cooling system design.

Related standards

• ASHRAE 90.4

Publication details

Authors

Jessica Kaiser; John Bean; Tom Harvey; Michael Patterson; Jessica Winiecki

Publisher

The Green Grid

Year

2011

Document number

WP 41

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