Getting Greener, and Monitoring More

According to a recent study by AFCOM, the largest association for data center professionals, data centers are making progress on energy efficiency, but a large percentage of green initiatives remain informal and a significant number of data center operators admit to procrastinating on efficiency measures. The good news: more data centers are measuring their energy usage and monitoring their data center operations.

The survey found that 71.3 percent of respondents are actively engaged in “greening” initiatives, but that only 42 percent of those had a formal program in place. What steps are they taking?

• 61 percent are using less power in their data centers
• 51 percent report implementing cooling efficiency strategies
• 12 percent report significant savings in water usage

Government data centers are lagging the private sector, according to the AFCOM survey, which found 62 percent had greening programs, but just 36 percent had formal initiatives.

Data center operators report a variety of obstacles to implementing energy efficiency strategies. Thirty nine percent reported not having enough money in their budget to purchase more energy-efficient equipment, while 29.6 percent blamed procrastination, saying they were “paying lip service” to the issues while not moving ahead with efficiency projects. Another 22 percent said they have not been able to get a clear commitment from management.

Let Empower Energy help you green your data center. Contact Mark Bell to learn more. Call 404.681.3270 x302 or email to mbell@empoweret.com.