Green data center EvoSwitch raises energy saving to 40 percent

AMSTERDAM, 18 December 2008 – EvoSwitch, the Dutch carrier- and CO2-neutral data center, managed to reduce the average Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of the data center from 1.8 to 1.6. This resulted in a 20 percent increase in energy saving - from 20 to 40 percent - compared to a traditional data center. The ultimate goal of EvoSwitch is to achieve an energy saving of 70 to 80 percent.

The extra 20 percent saving in energy consumption is largely the result of further investments in low-energy equipment and control systems. The expansion of the data center in 2008 also contributed to the improved PUE.

The first phase of EvoSwitch (2,000 m2) is already fully occupied by equipment from customers. This phase was completed in April 2007. Part of the second phase (2,000 m2 extra) is also almost fully used. The second phase was completed shortly before the summer of 2008 and required an additional investment of 9 million Euros. When the next phases are completed, EvoSwitch will have a potential floor area capacity of more than 9,000 m2.

Objective: 70 to 80 percent energy saving
“The extra energy saving is in line with what we calculated beforehand,” says Laurens Rosenthal, Innovation Director of EvoSwitch. “An average PUE of 1.6 is low, but the new design of the next phases enables us to achieve an even lower PUE. After completion of the next phases a PUE of 1.2 to 1.3 is a very realistic objective. According to our calculations, an energy saving will be realised in the new phase, in phase 3, of 70 to 80 percent compared to a traditional data center.”

A PUE of 1.2 to 1.3 is very low and proves that EvoSwitch is a leading data center innovator. Rosenthal: “It means that you need only 20 to 30 percent extra power to manage the data centre infrastructure, whereas in traditional data centres 80 to 120 percent extra power is quite common nowadays. There are even excesses in the market of 3.0, which means that 200 percent extra energy is required.”

Affordable data center
The energy savings are used by EvoSwitch to finance the current and new investments in green technologies, but also to offer customers affordable energy prices. “Building a green data center is more expensive than a traditional data center, but this does not affect our customers,” says Rosenthal. “We use the savings for further investments in green technology. Our customers also do not have to pay anything extra for our CO2 compensation, in which we invest together with the Climate Neutral Group. At EvoSwitch, companies are also better protected against high energy charges. Because of our investments in green technology and our long-term energy purchasing strategy, we can keep energy costs controllable and predictable for our customers.”

Energy-low data center
The environmentally friendly design of the EvoSwitch data center was the result of expert advice from TNO and the innovative work of our own dedicated design team. It enabled us to offer an energy-low concept at the opening of the data center in April 2007, among other things based on Free Cooling (using the outside temperature), Cold Corridors (separating warm and cold air flows) and UPS technology with Delta Conversion.

EvoSwitch is now putting the final touches to a new design that will improve the PUE even further. Rosenthal: “This will result in lower capital costs and operating costs and will benefit both the environment and the customers of EvoSwitch.”

PUE and DCiE
There are many suppliers on the market who claim to operate ‘green’. “The only thing that counts in a data center, however, is the Power Usage Effectiveness,” says Rosenthal. “A data centre may buy green power, but that does not make it energy-low. A data centre may install Cold Corridors, but that does not necessarily result in the best possible energy saving. The PUE of a data centre is the key figure that shows ‘how green’ a data center actually is. Recently, the Green Grid, of which we are a member, decided to use the term Data Center infrastructure Effectiveness (DCiE) as well. The lower the PUE or the higher the DCiE, the more successful the concept of a green data center. How this is achieved is a matter of making the right choices from the various available green technologies. We now aim to realise a PUE of 1.2 to 1.3 in the new data center designs.”

EvoSwitch
EvoSwitch (www.evoswitch.com) is a carrier-neutral, green data Center (CO2-neutral). The data center is located in the Amsterdam region, has good connections and a spacious floor area of more than 9,000 m2. EvoSwitch is ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 certified. To customers this means that their IT infrastructure within EvoSwitch is protected according to the highest standards. The data center has a total capacity of 20 Megawatt. This power capacity enables EvoSwitch to guarantee customers that there is always enough energy available. EvoSwitch operates fully climate-neutral. In cooperation with the Climate Neutral Group the data center invests in worldwide projects to restore the CO2 balance in the atmosphere. (www.climateneutralgroup.com). Companies that install their equipment in the EvoSwitch data center can use the logos of the The Green Fan Partner Programme (www.thegreenfan.com) on their web sites to show that they use a climate-neutral data center.

EvoSwitch
Koen Stegeman
+31 (0)6 – 30491407
press.nl@evoswitch.com

This release was published on openPR.