KyotoCooling Q&A with Vault VP Leonard Weitman

One of the many items that makes BendBroadband’s Vault so special is its state-of-the-art cooling system, dubbed KyotoCooling, after the Kyoto Protocol originally adopted in Kyoto, Japan. Yesterday, I talked with Vault Vice President of Technical Operations Leonard Weitman about the revolutionary cooling system and what makes it stand out in the data center industry. Following the photo is the Q&A session.

Workers install the Kyoto Cooling system at The Vault.

What is KyotoCooling and how did it come about?

KyotoCooling is a heat exchange unit designed and built by a company based in the Netherlands.  It was developed in response to rising energy costs and as a result of concern for greenhouse gas emissions resulting from cooling and heating of facilities.

What makes KyotoCooling different than your typical data center cooling system?

Typical data centers either use evaporative cooling towers or some other conventional air conditioning technology for cooling.  One way or another, these conventional systems use large amounts of power and/or water to accomplish cooling.  KyotoCooling simply uses cool outside air as the source of cooling.  The outside air cools the heat exchange wheel, which in turn cools the hot air from the data center and then returns that same air to the data center.  It is less costly to humidify and filter the recycled data center air than it is to humidify and filter outside air.  This works well when temperatures are below 75 degrees F.  In Central Oregon, this occurs about 75% of the hours during the year.  During the 25% of the time that temperatures are above 75 degrees F, conventional compressed fluid cooling is used.  This finely tuned additional cooling is integrated into the Kyoto systems for maximum operating efficiency.

Diagram of Kyoto Cooling System

Is KyotoCooling being used by many data centers in the United States? Why/why not?

These systems are new to the U.S.  So far there are two installations in the U.S. and one in Canada, with another underway in Central Washington.

What made BendBroadband Vault decide to implement KyotoCooling?

In addition to the environmental and operating cost factors mentioned above, these units require less space than conventional units.

Has the KyotoCooling system been a draw for potential clientele at The Vault?

Yes.  Customers interested in being environmentally responsible are very interested in The Vault.  Our three existing customers are a testament to this.