Case Study: Internap Retrofit Saves $420,000 per Year
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.