TBC Saves Money while Increasing Floor Space and Efficiency
The Challenge
TBC Corporation (TBC), the nation’s largest integrated marketer for the automotive tire replacement market had been supporting its thousands of retail outlets from an aging data center in Juno Beach, Florida. The data center had become too crowded, ineffecient and too expensive to maintain.
After an initial assessment, TBC decided to build a replacement data center. While TBC knew they would use the architect and engineering firm with whom they've had a long standing relationship, they also wanted to take advantage of deeper expertise specific to data center design, construction and operations. TBC turned to Transitional Data Services.
The TDS Approach
TDS helped define the data center requirements and assisted in the development of a ten-year roadmap for TBD. The new facility was designed to support 150% of the current data center’s capacity, and is expected to meet TBC’s computing needs throughout the expected lifespan of the facility and installed infrastructure.
Transitional Data Services also represented TBC’s interests throughout the construction phase of the project with oversight, owners rep and peer review services. TDS helped ensure that the new data center would meet the established uptime, efficiency, and “green” objectives.
Benefits
By leveraging Transitional Data Services, TBC achieved the following:
- Saved more than 25% on the critical infrastructure costs by establishing a more competitive bid process
- Increased usable floor space capacity by 17% by optimizing the layout
- Increased cooling capacity without increasing cost through efficiency improvements in the implementation of CRAC units, chiller loops and ductwork
- Improved the operational performance and reduced the risk of fire at the site by implementing the new TDS designed fire detection & suppression systems
About TBC Corporation - TBC Corporation, a company of Sumitomo Corporation of America, is the nation's largest vertically integrated marketer of tires for the automotive replacement market. The Company's retail operations include company-operated tire and automotive service centers under the "Tire Kingdom", "Merchant's Tire & Auto Centers" and "National Tire & Battery" brands, and franchised stores under the "Big O Tires" brand. TBC markets on a wholesale basis to regional tire chains and distributors serving independent tire dealers throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Recognized by Network World for Leading Green Design
Challenge
In order to support demand for enterprise grade, Tier-3 class data centers in New Englad, Internap needed to quickly increase its inventory of data center space or lose busines to other data center providers.
TDS Approach
Under the leadership if Karl Robohm of TDS, a new, green data center was brought online just 12 months from getting permits.
This new data center in the Boston area was built from the ground up to be a "state-of-the-shelf", green data center facility. To support a wide range of potential tenants over a long life cycle, this 45,000 SF colocation facility includes the necessary security, fiber access, power and efficiency to minimize operating expense over a wide range of occupancy levels and power densities.
Benefits
The new Internap green data center in Sommerville, MA was recognized by Network World online as a model example of green data center design:
Companies looking for a green data center model should take a look at the new facility Internap built in Somerville, Mass., just outside Boston, which is so environmentally efficient the local power company wrote it a rebate check for $453,000.
"Internap expects that the data center will save another $400,000 every year by using less power than it would have had it not built to green specifications," says Mike Higgins, vice president and general manager of Internap's data center services.
To read the entire story complete with photos, please visit:
What does a real green data center look like?
About Internap's Data Center
The TDS staff has been instrumental in the design, construction and commissioning of the Internap / Sommerville facility. Please click the image below to launch an interactive flash demonstration of the Internap facility.
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Rapid-payback efficiency projects recover 2,800 MW-h per year
Challenge
This 16,000 square foot, Tier 3 class data center in Boston was reaching limits in power and cooling that were making it inefficient to operate, expensive to maintain.
Approach
Under the leadership of Karl Robohm of TDS, Internap was able to reduce annual power requirements by 2,800 Megawatt hours. This was achieved by three infrastructure upgrade projects working in tandem to increase power and cooling efficiency-and resulted in savings of $420,000 per year. (Of course, as power costs go up, future savings will be even greater).
These upgrades included:
- Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs) to move air & fluids more efficiently
- Ultrasonic humidification upgrades (elimination of steam)
- High efficiency, harmonic mitigating voltage step-down transformers
Each efficiency improvements was implemented quickly and efficiently with no impact to ongoing operations.
Benefits
Taking into account the power company rebates, these three projects had a combined payback of 8 months, with the high efficiency motors and pumps having a payback of only 3 months.
|
Project: |
Variable Drives (VFDs) |
Ultrasonic Humidification |
Efficient Transformers |
|
Cost: |
$180,000 |
$325,000 |
$184,000 |
|
Rebates: |
$135,000 |
$190,000 |
$82,000 |
|
Net Cost: |
$45,000 |
$135,000 |
$102,000 |
|
Reduction: |
1.3 GW-h |
1.1 GW-h |
.53 GW-h |
|
Savings: |
$185,000/Yr. |
$156,000/Yr. |
$79,000/Yr. |
Note: Savings based on electric power cost of $0.15 per kW-h
In addition to this recurring annual expense reduction, the ultrasonic humidification component reduced cooling requirements by 15% allowing the AC system to run with less load or to cool more IT equipment if necessary.
While the amount of infrastructure needed for most corporate data centers is less than this example, these same approaches to conserve power and related expenses can pay off for facilities as small as 1,000 square feet.