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.
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.
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.
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%.
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.
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.
