Reducing Data Center Loads for a Large-Scale, Net Zero Office Building (Brochure)

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (U.S.)

关键词: Blowers;    Evaporative Cooling;    Buildings;    Lighting Loads;    Rsf;   

DOI  :  10.2172/1031951
RP-ID  :  DOE/GO-102011-3459
RP-ID  :  AC36-08GO28308
RP-ID  :  1031951

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

Case study highlighting the design, implementation strategies, and continuous performance monitoring of NREL's Research Support Facility data center. In constructing a new research facility for its campus, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) project team identified the opportunity to design a world-class, energy-efficient data center to support its operations. NREL's efforts resulted in a highly efficient data center that demonstrated considerable energy savings in its first 11 months of operations. Using legacy data center performance as a baseline, the new facility cut energy use by nearly 1,450,000 kWh, delivering cost savings of approximately $82,000. The data center's average total load was 165 kW less than the legacy center's average total load, resulting in a 60% reduction in overall power. Finally, the limited use of cooling and fan energy enabled the new data center to achieve a 1.16 average power utilization effectiveness (PUE) rating, compared to the legacy data center's PUE of 2.28. The laboratory had been relying on individual servers with an energy utilization rate of less than 5%. NREL employed building best practices, innovative design techniques and energy-efficient technologies to support its energy goals for the new data center. To counteract the extensive heat generated by data center equipment, the laboratory implemented a cooling system using outdoor air and evaporative cooling to meet most of the center's needs. Inside the data center, NREL replaced much of its legacy equipment with new, energy-efficient technology. By exchanging this infrastructure for virtualized blade servers, NREL reduced its server energy footprint by 96%. Additionally, NREL replaced its 80%-efficient uninterruptible power supply (UPS) with a UPS that is 95% efficient; deployed ultra efficient power distribution units (PDU) to handle higher UPS voltages; and implemented vacancy sensors to drive down lighting loads. Using best practices and energy-efficient technology, NREL was able to successfully design an optimized data center with a minimal energy footprint. At 958,000 kWh, the annual energy use for the RSF data center is approximately 60% less than the legacy data center's annual energy use, surpassing the laboratory's project goal. As specified, the building is equipped with enough onsite renewable energy generation to offset annual energy consumption. The facility has achieved a PUE of 1.16 and ERE of 0.91 in its first 11 months of operation and is using PUE to as a metric to gauge success towards its ultimate goal. Based on the status of its RSF data center project, NREL is advising other government organizations on data center efficiency. The laboratory places great emphasis on the use of key metrics - such as PUE and ERE - to track performance. By carefully monitoring these metrics and making adjustments, NREL is able to continuously improve the performance of its data center operations.