|
CORE4 SYSTEMS LAUNCHES INDUSTRY’S MOST ENERGY EFFICIENT AND SUSTAINABLE DATA CENTER COOLING SYSTEMS
Next-Generation Data Center Cooling Infrastructure Slashes Energy Costs Up to 72 percent and Water Usage By 28 percent
Napa, CA – June 22, 2009 – Core4 Systems, Inc., a pioneering developer of data center cooling solutions, today announced the introduction of its next-generation computer room air-conditioning (CRAC), air-handling units (AHU) and chiller systems. Designed to accommodate today’s $6 billion retrofit and new construction data center markets, Core4’s new systems, combined with its proven and audited energy efficiency methodologies deliver the most cost-effective and sustainable data center cooling solution in the industry. PDF
The significance of Core4’s documented data center cooling breakthrough is magnified by the fact that data centers are among the largest energy consumers, devouring 61.4 billion kWh in the United States alone. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), data center energy consumption is forecast to nearly double to 120 billion KWh by 2011, which would make the data center industry the single largest user of energy in the U.S., surpassing the metals industry. This energy consumption rate is forecast to continue doubling in the next five years. Typically, 40-60 percent of this annual energy spend is consumed by cooling systems for IT equipment.
“As a regional ISP and co-location data center operator, we are expanding our occupancy by 100 percent and this has forced us to significantly improve the efficiency of cooling our data center operations,” said Dane Jasper, CEO with Sonic.net. “By replacing our incumbent Liebert CRACs with Core4 systems, we’ve cut our cooling-related energy consumption by an astounding 72 percent, have been approved for a $153,000 rebate from PG&E, are saving more than $11,600 per month, and have cut our power utilization efficiency (PUE) rating from 1.82 to 1.25 without sacrificing our temperature or humidity control.” [Editorial note: No other company has ever received a rebate that large for a 100-ton cooling system.]
Core4 solutions can achieve average PUE’s as low as 1.25 under the current standard for data center operation: 57˚F Supply Air Temperature, 68˚F Return Air Temperature and 45 percent relative humidity. In stark contrast, legacy data center cooling systems are averaging a PUE of 2.25 according to the Uptime Institute. That’s a difference between spending $.44 per ton hour for cooling and less than $.11 per hour after a Core4 retrofit.
Unlike systems that use airside economizing (ASE) solutions which use more energy, require additional consumable expenditures for filters, and do not provide consistent temperatures and humidity levels, Core4 systems deploy refrigerant side economizing (RSE) that can reduce refrigeration compressor energy by up to 100 percent. Since Core4 deploys RSE directly in the return air and is based on the outside wet-bulb temperature rather than dry bulb temperature relied upon by ASE, economizing hours are increased by as much as 50 percent, as compared to airside economizing and typical waterside economizing.
Core4’s new solutions also play a vital role in reducing water usage onsite at data center facilities at regional power plants. A typical 100-ton water-cooled data center consumes 1.2 million gallons of water per year at the onsite facility. This can double depending on cycle concentration rates in cooling towers. Consequently, a 100-ton data center consuming 1.7 million kWh per year for cooling on average requires 3.2 million gallons of water for the cooling load at the power plant. With a Core4 data center-cooling infrastructure, water consumption can be drastically reduced to 900,000 gallons at the power plant per year due to the total energy savings.
“Data center economics have completely flipped in the last few years,” said Peter Christy, principal analyst of Internet Research Group. “In many cases ‘IT’—the servers, storage and networking—no longer is the big cost component – it’s now the power and cooling to run the IT. Core4 has flipped how you do cooling that is optimized to the specific requirements of the use and the locale, often with quite dramatic improvements in data center costs.”
The Core4 Breakthrough
Core4 has developed a number of patent-pending technologies that work in concert with the company’s unique energy efficiency methodologies to dramatically reduce direct component energy consumption and indirect waste heat with improved redundancy and reliability. These inter-related technologies include:
- Reduced Compression™: this patent-pending design methodology contributes 43 percent savings over legacy compressor system designs, while providing total system efficiencies averaging less than .54kW per ton
- Scavenger™ Coil and MTS™ Cooling: Refrigerant Side Economizing reduces the energy needed to cool the data center by reducing the energy from the refrigeration by up to 6000 hours a year.
- Ultra efficient fans: the patent-pending Aero fan design reduces the energy consumed and heat created by the fans by 63 percent over legacy “plug style” fan systems. With fan performances better than .10 kW per ton, the Aero fan system is far superior to any CRAC or AHU fan system on the market.
The Core4 Solution
Core4 provides data center cooling solutions for three primary facility designs including Central Plant with CRAC, Water Cooled and Chiller Systems with Air Handlers. To deliver measurable and documented energy savings that align with the energy efficiency goals and objectives of each customer, Core4 provides the following:
- Site Analysis: a comprehensive onsite review of existing power and cooling infrastructure to develop a Power Utilization Efficiency (PUE) and/or Data Center Infrastructure Efficiency (DCIE) that can be used to apply for rebates (where applicable) and/or develop return-on-investment parameters.
- Design/Engineering: key system components are custom designed to work seamlessly with existing infrastructure, geographies and unique operating conditions
- Spec Manufacturing: Central plant, CRAC water-cooled and chiller systems are manufactured to exact specifications of each unique data center environment and factor in future growth considerations
- Managed deployment: Core4 manages the entire cooling system deployment process to ensure optimal data center uptime
- Service/monitoring: a variety of service programs are available including 24/7 maintenance/efficiency monitoring, monthly/quarterly system reviews and 24 hour a day emergency service
“Despite the fact that fast growing data centers are emerging as one of the biggest energy consumers in any industry, relatively little attention has been paid to the impact cooling solutions have on annual energy spending,” said David Nurse, president and COO at Core4 Systems. “With today’s announcement, we are breaking down the barriers to understanding problems associated with data center cooling while introducing an elegant solution that delivers a radical improvement over legacy approaches.”
System Guarantees
Core4 guarantees the efficiency of its system design at both full load and part load as data center facilities grow. Core4 uniquely guarantees system efficiency and savings based on pre contracted (incumbent system) average efficiency relative to post operational efficiency. This is guaranteed at any load condition.
About Core4 Systems
Founded in 2008 by veteran energy efficiency and refrigeration technology visionaries—representing over 100 person-years of experience—Core4 Systems is revolutionizing data center cooling. The company has developed a breakthrough cooling infrastructure that seamlessly displaces inefficient, legacy computer room air conditioning (CRAC) and chilled water systems with air handling units (AHU) systems to dramatically cut cooling costs up to 72 percent and save up to 28 percent of onsite water usage. The company is headquartered in Napa, Calif. For more information, visit www.core4sys.com.
### |
