[Equest-users] Data Center Modeling (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Eurek, John S NWO]

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

Something I have ran into over and over with data centers is that often the IT people will say "We require 10 tons of cooling for this room."  But is that the actual load?  How much is the safety factor or for future?  Is that 10 tons 24hr 365 days a year?   

Often at the time I am building the energy model, the building/data center is over a year away from being up and running.  It is difficult to get an IT person to give you product cut sheets for computer equipment which won't be purchased for a year.

I have done a bit of research on server rooms and found that an older server which puts out 200 watts of heat when it is using 100% of its processing power will often give off 170 watts when it is using 10% of its processing power.  Server manufactures are finding that servers are a major energy user and are starting to make greener servers.  One of these servers was basically an old server split into 4 parts.  1 part would always be on and the others would only power up if they are needed, this allowed a 200 watt server go to 50 watts when the traffic is low.

In about every eco-design meeting I tell anyone who will listen that the server room is the elephant in the corner.  I modeled a building where the server room + server room cooling was 50% of the total annual energy use.    


John Eurek PE, LEED AP

.................  You want to watch people sweat?  Tell the design team that most servers are rated for temps as low as 50 degrees and as high at 95 (These numbers are rough guesses from memory) but the range is a lot larger than the 72-75 degrees.



-----Original Message-----
From: equest-users-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org [mailto:equest-users-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org] On Behalf Of Stormy L. Shanks
Sent: Tuesday, August 14, 2012 4:34 PM
To: omoltay at mimtarch.com
Cc: equest-users at lists.onebuilding.org
Subject: Re: [Equest-users] Data Center Modeling

Omer, 

I believe that the cooling is considered regulated energy usage, not process energy.  I'm not certain how the Appendix G baseline would be modeled, though. There may be CIRs that provide direction on this.  Addendum bu to 90.1-2007 that Umesh linked below takes away the economizer exception for data centers that's been used as a "loophole" in the past to model the baseline system with no economizer. But, you may be able to disregard that because you are not forced to use addenda for LEED models, right? There may be a CIR that addresses economizer, too. Have you reviewed the CIRs for information related to data centers and the baseline model?

Stormy Shanks, PE
www.kjww.com


-----Original Message-----
From: Ömer Moltay [mailto:omoltay at mimtarch.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, August 14, 2012 2:57 PM
To: Stormy L. Shanks
Cc: equest-users at lists.onebuilding.org
Subject: Re: [Equest-users] Data Center Modeling

Dear Stormy,

Thanks for the info. Is it the case that only the IT equipment power is considered process energy? About 40% of the energy in a typical data center is cooling energy. If the cooling energy is also considered process energy, than you are absolutely right. However, if this is regulated energy and the baseline model is built from Appendix G requirements for cooling equipment, than I believe that there will be some potential for energy savings. What do you think?

Omer.

14.08.2012 22:50 tarihinde, Stormy L. Shanks yazdı:
> Omer,
>
> Be careful with how you handle process energy in the LEED energy modeling for a data center. LEED requires that the process energy be modeled realistically and it has to be the same in the baseline and proposed models, unless you are making a case that you're doing something extraordinary to reduce process load. The server energy is typically a very large percentage of the total building energy usage in a data center, and it's considered process energy. So, it is difficult to save enough energy with envelope, HVAC, and lighting strategies to overcome that process energy to meet the minimum energy performance prerequisite. I think there may be some LEED CIRs related to data centers and process energy, so you might read up on those.
>
> In my experience, the LEED reviewers will not allow you to model the process energy in a data center as just 25% because that's much lower than what is realistic. I know there are a number of LEED certified data centers (I've been involved in a couple of them myself), so it's possible to get certification, but I would manage expectations carefully with your client.
>
> Maybe others have had different experiences. It seems like we've been waiting a long time for the "LEED for Data Centers" standard. I think there was a draft of it created before v2009 came out.
>
>
> Stormy Shanks, PE
> www.kjww.com
>   
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: equest-users-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org [mailto:equest-users-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org] On Behalf Of Umesh Atre
> Sent: Tuesday, August 14, 2012 11:08 AM
> To: omoltay at mimtarch.com; equest-users at lists.onebuilding.org
> Subject: Re: [Equest-users] Data Center Modeling
>
> Omer,
>
> ASHRAE Addendum bu might be a good starting point.
> http://www.ashrae.org/standards-research--technology/standards-addenda/Addenda-to-Standard-90-1-2007-IP-SI-Versions
>
> Regarding LEED for data centers, have heard that LEED 2012 will have some compliance categories/paths.
>
> While working on a recent data center project (non-LEED), I had come across this website that you could browse through for ideas on strategies:
> http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/leed-platinum-data-centers/
>
>
> Best of luck,
> Umesh
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: equest-users-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org [mailto:equest-users-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org] On Behalf Of Ömer Moltay
> Sent: Tuesday, August 14, 2012 11:33 AM
> To: equest-users at lists.onebuilding.org
> Subject: [Equest-users] Data Center Modeling
>
> Dear All,
>
> I need to learn about data center modeling for LEED v2009 certification.
> In particular, I will have to inform the client about how to build a baseline model and what strategies can earn us points. Is there any guideline or note regarding data center modeling for LEED v2009 to which you can direct me to?
>
> Best regards,
>
> Ömer Moltay, LEED AP BD+C, ASHRAE BEMP, ASHRAE CPMP, BREEAM Assessor Mimta EkoYapi Hekimsuyu Cad. 559. Sk. No:39
> 34255 Kucukkoy Istanbul
> Tel: 90-212-617-2296
> Fax: 90-212-617-2297
> www.eko-yapi.net
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Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE