Efficient HVAC | Efficient Backup Power

We Care – About You and About Our Environment

Stewardship is very important to us. We strive to take exceptional care of your technological needs as well as our environment.

At Opus Interactive, we’re committed to continually adopting new technologies that not only advance our Data Center offering, but provide good stewardship to the environment. We are based in Portland, Oregon afterall!

Sustainable Overview

As a company, we take our responsibility to our environment and its viability for our kids very seriously. We have implemented numerous sustainable practices such as employing 100% Wind Power for our data center through the PGE Renewable Energy Program, reducing our power consumption through motion sensor lighting, purchasing state-of-the-art low voltage processors in our servers, and reducing our greenhouse emissions by using Biodiesel in our back-up power generator.

Green Power

Our data center is powered 100% by Green Wind Power. By making a commitment to renewable power, we are joining more than 54,000 households and businesses in Oregon who are already demonstrating their environmental stewardship. Together with other PGE customers, we have helped avoid the emission of over 625 million pounds of carbon dioxide into Portland’s air since 2002. This constitutes the equivalent of not driving 695 million miles, or taking over 55,000 cars off the road. We take pride using green power and continue to explore addition methods for utilizing it in our data center.

Biodiesel Generator

We use biodiesel to fuel our backup generator. Biodiesel is a cleaner burning, renewable fuel that is healthier for humans, better for the environment, and promotes energy security and economic benefits to all of us. It reduces unhealthy emissions that are associated with cancer, asthma and other health concerns as well as pollution associated with global warming. Biodiesel cuts emissions of cancer-causing compounds by 75 to 90 percent compared to those in petroleum diesel emission. Furthermore, biodiesel is the only alternative fuel to complete the health effects testing requirements of the Clean Air Act. Biodiesel can be made from any vegetable oil or fat. In the United States, biodiesel is usually made from soybean oil. Because it is domestically produced from farm crops and other renewable resources, biodiesel contributes to the health of the U.S. economy as well as national energy security. Biodiesel can be used in any diesel engine with just a few and sometimes no modifications. Its horsepower, fuel economy and torque are similar to those provided by petroleum diesel. Hundreds of fleets and thousands of individuals currently use biodiesel blends, and more and more biodiesel pumps are opening to the public across the nation.

Efficient HVAC

We use Liebert Air Conditioning units that use a technology called GLYCOOL. The GLYCOOL system is a patented Liebert process that allows colder outdoor temperatures to reduce or eliminate compressor operation. This not only reduces operating costs, it increases reliability. It works like this: When outdoor temperatures are above room temperature, the GLYCOOL system functions as a normally-cooled system. But when outdoor temperatures fall below room temperatures, the glycol that circulates between the condenser and the drycooler becomes cold enough to provide some or all of the room’s cooling needs. This technology gives us a cooling efficiency of more than 17%.

Efficient Backup Power

After conducting much research on the best solutions for our backup battery power system, we selected the APC Infrastructure which redefines high-power UPS technology as a modular, fault-tolerant UPS. Ideal for eco-aware data centers, the UPS can be scaled for rigorous and changing electrical demands. The system provides increased availability through internal N+1 configurability, predictive failure notification, and multi-module paralleling features. This technology delivers best-in-class efficiency and a reduction in rating of electrical infrastructure, wires, transformers and generators. Slide-in/out power modules, manageable external batteries and self-diagnosing features greatly reduce mean time to repair, which makes it possible for us to guarantee a 100% network uptime.

Small Footprint Servers

When we shifted from traditional servers to HP blade servers, our primary “eco” benefit showed up as significant power savings of nearly 30%.

The main difference from traditional servers to blades servers is a full chassis of blades (chassis is the enclosure that houses a set of 16 blades) that runs off redundant, 3 phase Power circuits. So 16 blades running off six power supplies on 3 phase power is much more efficient than 16 rack-and-stack servers all using their own power source.

Blade servers also create a high-density infrastructure to maximize space efficiencies. Blade servers take up 37% less space than traditional servers. They also produce less heat than traditional rack-and-stack servers. The higher density nature of blade servers does create additional heat requiring additional cooling resources which we have solved by using our high efficient GLYCOOL HVAC system. We thereby maintain and enhance our eco approach to the data center environment.

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World Community Grid

Opus Interactive is a World Community Grid partner supporting the mission to create the largest public computing grid benefiting humanity. Our work with the World Community Grid is built on the belief that technological innovation combined with visionary scientific research and large-scale volunteerism can change our world for the better. Our success depends on individuals - like you - collectively contributing their unused computer time to this not-for-profit endeavor. Come learn more about the Grid http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org and join our team here.

PGE Renewable Power

Our company’s commitment for sustaining our global environment is at the forefront of what we do. We support PGE through their renewable power program providing our clients a green and sustainable environment for their internet solutions.

The BioDiesel Alliance

Opus Interactive is a member of the BioDiesel Alliance. This alliance is a diverse coalition of organizations, agencies and businesses from across the nation who find common ground in their support for biodiesel fuel.

Green Power Partnership The Green Power Partnership

The Green Power Partnership is a voluntary program that encourages organizations to buy green power as a way to reduce the environmental impacts associated with purchased electricity use. The Partnership currently has more than 1,000 Partner organizations voluntarily purchasing billions of kilowatt-hours of green power annually.