IT Sustainability Services – Announced an exciting collaboration to introduce Data Center Heat Recovery, a heat recovery module designed to help organizations in India manage and utilize excess heat.
Transforming Data Centers: Enhanced Cooling Efficiency and Heat Recovery Solutions
Rapid adoption of AI technologies across various sectors in India is significantly increasing power demand and utilization of AI-optimized IT infrastructure. According to the International Energy Agency, the AI industry is expected to use at least ten times more energy by 2026 compared to 2023 and increase its electricity consumption exponentially. To address these challenges, IT leaders and data center operators in India are implementing strategies to reduce energy consumption, improve energy efficiency, and improve cooling systems.
Using excess heat for constant power
Excess heat in the EU alone is estimated at 2,860 TWh per year, which almost matches the total energy demand for heating and hot water in residential and service sector buildings. This concept can be applied in India, where the continuous flow of excess heat from data centers represents a reliable source of clean energy.
To address these issues, the new energy-efficient data center solution offers the following:
• Modular Data Center (MDC): This scalable solution, consisting of compact, high-density (kW/rack) containers, can be deployed almost anywhere. It features direct liquid cooling technology, reducing overall energy consumption by 20%.
• Innovative Heat Reuse Solutions: Along with oil-free compressors that increase cooling efficiency by up to 30%, these modules capture excess heat from data centers to provide renewable heating onsite and to neighboring buildings and industries.
Strategic partnership and benefits
This partnership will revolutionize building and decarbonizing the data center industry in India, creating a blueprint for the next generation of sustainable data centers using existing technologies.
Advantages of Modular Data Centers
The MDC design includes Direct Liquid Cooling (DLC) technologies, improving fuel efficiency by over 20% and optimizing power generation and distribution resulting in significant energy savings. The compact design minimizes energy loss and maximizes temperature differences, promoting additional heat capture. Agility and exclusion of heavy industrial equipment reduces the need for expensive construction materials and shortens deployment time from 18 months to 6 months.
The flexibility of MDCs allows data to be placed near production sites, reducing energy impacts and data transfer barriers while improving data governance and security.
Transitional solutions and energy efficiency
Using commonly unused resources such as waste heat is an example of the future of efficient and intelligent energy use. Modular data centers deliver an impressive Power Consumption Effectiveness (PUE) of 1.14, compared to 1.3 to 1.4 PUE of traditional designs. These centers can handle power-demanding architectures and are suitable for supercomputing and generative AI workloads, delivering faster results to scientists, universities and organizations in India.
Driving innovation in decarbonisation
To leverage one of the largest untapped energy resources, excess heat, this strategic partnership will leverage an extensive product portfolio of energy-efficient solutions to drive innovation, support decarbonization and create a blueprint for sustainable modular data centers in India.
The IT Sustainability Services – Data Center Heat Recovery Initiative is inspired by the heat reuse technology already in use on the headquarters campus, where heat recovered from the onsite data center is boosted by a heat pump and reused in surrounding buildings or fed to the local district. A heating network to provide renewable heat to local residents. This approach is a key part of achieving carbon neutrality in the energy system of the 250,000m² campus.
Efficient cooling and heat recovery solutions
The scalable modular data center offering includes technologies such as heat pumps and chillers, heat exchangers, heat reuse modules, drives and compressors for pump skids, cooling data centers up to 30% more efficiently, while recovering and reusing excess heat. This modular solution consists of components that work seamlessly together and offers two technology stack options with a heat recovery system including a hydronic heat recovery heat exchanger and a water-to-water heat pump.
Circular Economy and Asset Upcycling
As part of a holistic “reduce, reuse, resource” approach, the partnership also focuses on retiring end-of-use IT assets through an asset upcycling service. This circular economy solution enables technology recovery and reuse, while recovering economic value from those assets.
FAQ
How can we make data centers more sustainable?
Making data centers more sustainable involves implementing several strategies:
Energy efficiency: using energy-efficient hardware and optimizing cooling systems.
Renewable Energy: Shifting to renewable energy sources such as solar and wind energy.
Heat Recovery: Capturing and reusing excess heat generated by data center operations.
Modular Data Centers: Implementing scalable, modular data centers that minimize energy loss and maximize resource utilization.
What are Green Data Centers?
Green data centers are facilities designed with a focus on environmental sustainability. They incorporate energy-efficient technologies, renewable energy sources and practices that reduce carbon footprints and reduce environmental impact. This includes using advanced cooling techniques, energy-efficient servers and heat recovery systems.
What are some current trends in data center sustainability?
Current Trends in Data Center Sustainability:
Liquid Cooling: Direct liquid cooling systems for improved energy efficiency.
AI Optimization: Using AI to optimize energy consumption and cooling processes.
Integration of renewable energy: Expanding the use of renewable energy sources.
Modular and Edge Data Centers: Deploying modular data centers close to data production sites to reduce energy consumption and improve data transfer efficiency.
What are the best practices and trends in enterprise data center sustainability?
Best practices and trends in enterprise data center sustainability:
Energy Audits: Regular energy audits to identify inefficiencies and opportunities for improvement.
Green Building Standards: Adherence to green building standards such as LEED.
Efficient Cooling Solutions: Implementing state-of-the-art cooling solutions like liquid cooling and heat recovery systems.
Server Virtualization: Reducing the number of physical servers through virtualization to save energy and space.
What is the carbon footprint of data centers?
The carbon footprint of data centers refers to the total greenhouse gas emissions caused by their operations, including energy consumption for servers, cooling systems and other infrastructure. As data centers expand to meet increasing demand, their carbon footprint increases, adopting sustainable practices and technologies to reduce their environmental impact is critical.
What are the sustainability goals for data centers?
Sustainability objectives for data centers typically include:
Reducing Energy Consumption: Reducing overall energy consumption through efficient technologies and practices.
Carbon Neutrality: Achieving zero net carbon emissions by balancing the carbon emitted with an equivalent carbon offset.
Water Conservation: Minimizing water consumption in cooling processes.
Waste reduction: Reducing end-of-use IT assets through recycling and upcycling. Renewable Energy Use: Increasing the proportion of energy available from renewable sources
Conclusion
The path to sustainable data centers involves a multifaceted approach such as energy efficiency, renewable energy integration, advanced cooling solutions and efficient waste management. By adopting these practices and using innovative technologies, organizations can significantly reduce the environmental impact of their data centers. The collaboration in promoting sustainable data centers in India exemplifies the potential of combining strategic partnerships and cutting-edge solutions to create a more sustainable and energy-efficient future. As demand for data continues to grow, it is imperative that data center operators and IT leaders prioritize sustainability goals, ensuring that growth in digital infrastructure is matched by environmental stewardship and carbon reduction commitments.