Vault Sets Standard for Data Center Energy Efficiency

The BendBroadband Vault is substantiating its claims for extreme energy efficiency, slashing energy consumption by an estimated 600kW compared to standard data centers. The Vault colocation facility operates at a Power Use Efficiency (PUE) of less than 1.2, which is considerably lower than the 2.0 average of standard data centers. Furthermore, this low energy consumption corresponds to an 80 percent reduction in power needed for non-computing data center operations. As the data center industry continues to be on the environmental watch list, the Vault is proving that green tech is the wave of the future (view solar dashboard for live solar data feed).

There are two key energy-saving systems in the Vault: solar panels and a hot air containment data hall cooling system. There are an impressive 624 solar panels, manufactured by SolarWorld and installed by Sunlight Solar on the roof of the Vault. Advanced Energy PV Powered™ 75 kW inverters were also installed as solar inverters (or PV inverter), which is a critical component in the design of the solar energy system. This complete system generates 152kW of power, one-sixth of the power consumed when the data hall is full. And, because the Vault is not at full capacity, energy is actually being supplied back into the grid.

The energy-efficient hot air containment design allows cooling only where necessary. The two 450 kW capacity KyotoCooling systems, and a separate solar array, are the answers to power consumption for non-computing operations. The KyotoCooling systems utilize the outside air to cool the building 75% of the time and have the capacity to cool the air by as much as 30 degrees. Because the system recycles air that’s already been filtered and humidified, the air doesn’t require additional filtration or humidification as it circulates back into the data center. This reduces power consumption and helps to conserve water, a limited resource in the high desert of Central Oregon.

From the porous, pervious pavement of the parking lot to the xeriscape landscaping, the Vault maximizes energy efficiency. The building’s insulation is even made from recycled denim jeans rather than fiberglass pads. Low-heat, low-energy LED lights are used in place of less efficient incandescent or fluorescent lights and the flooring of the Vault is rated at 4,000 PSI and is 6 inches thick – meaning that the potential to overload a cabinet is nearly impossible due to the floor loading capacity. Carbon credits have also been purchased from Oregon-based company Woodlands Carbon to make the Vault 100 percent carbon neutral. The Vault was designed to be as energy efficient and environmentally friendly as possible and the numbers are quickly proving this to be the case.