To meet the ever-increasing need for fast, reliable data to power online activity, data centers are being built and expanded across the United States. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, data centers are some of the most energy-intensive buildings in the country, consuming 10 to 50 times the energy per floor space of a typical office building.
Data centers house computer systems and their associated components, such as telecommunications and storage systems. Data centers typically consist of several components, such as servers, routers, and firewalls, designed to store, manage, and disseminate data efficiently and securely. These require a large, continuous energy supply and a large space.
The centers require large amounts of power for high-intensity computing and cooling systems, with a new large data center requiring the same amount of electricity needed to power 750,000 homes.
Today, data centers account for approximately 2% of total U.S. electricity use, a percentage projected to increase as information technology and artificial intelligence use grow. Data centers can reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by improving energy efficiency and leading the transition to renewable energy sources.
This is why new and existing data centers across the country are turning to district energy systems for a sustainable, reliable, and cost-effective solution to power their operations.
Challenges data centers face in today’s landscape
Data centers are crucial to our digitally driven society. They power cloud computing, data analytics, and various online services, from websites and artificial intelligence platforms to enterprise applications.
Data centers require large amounts of electricity, space cooling, and humidification to keep equipment running efficiently. In addition to their high energy demands, data centers also face the following energy challenges:
Energy efficiency and green IT
Creating sustainable performance by reducing energy consumption and other resources, greenhouse gas emissions, and Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE).
Cost-effectiveness
Finding partners who can build a competitive advantage by optimizing energy consumption and lowering the total cost of ownership.
Capacity to evolve
Maintaining the agility and skills needed to react to dynamic customer energy demand and efficiently deliver operational performance metrics and Service Level Agreements (SLAs).
Reliability and availability
Providing continuity of service of energy systems to guarantee 24/7 uptime and availability of data.
Temperature and humidity controls
To maintain optimal temperature and humidity levels, data centers rely heavily on their HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) systems to keep equipment cool and working effectively.
District cooling is a powerful solution for data centers
District energy is the production and distribution of energy in the form of steam, hot water, and chilled water. The energy is produced at a central facility and distributed to connected buildings through a network of underground pipes, allowing building owners to forego the installation and management of onsite generation equipment.
Data centers can benefit from district cooling systems, where chilled water is produced at a central facility and delivered through an underground network of pipes to connected buildings. District chilled water provides primary cooling for space and equipment within the data center.
District steam can also be used to humidify data centers. Humidity levels play a key role in cooling and energy efficiency within data centers and in prolonging the life of materials used.
The nature of district cooling allows a single off-site chiller to replace multiple chillers across different buildings, improving efficiency and driving space savings for both production and customers. In addition, district energy systems can manage load fluctuations and handle extreme weather events effectively.
In Baltimore, Vicinity Energy provides district chilled water to the commercial building at 750 East Pratt Street, which houses an energy-intensive data center. The data center has specific cooling requirements to keep its servers operating smoothly, because the servers and electrical equipment continuously emit heat, requiring cooling even in the winter months. While onsite chillers can expose mission-critical facilities to vulnerabilities if equipment inefficiency or failures occur, Vicinity’s interconnected central energy facilities have redundancies in place to ensure 750 East Pratt Street operates seamlessly.
District chilled water offers several key advantages, making it an ideal cooling solution for data centers, especially those focused on sustainability and operational efficiency.
- Increased reliability: Eliminating the burden of onsite chillers, district energy is a safer and more sustainable alternative. Vicinity has a 99.99% reliability guarantee and a team of over 450 energy experts, allowing data centers to deliver data efficiently while we ensure 24/7 energy delivery.
- Meet sustainability goals: Data centers connected to a district energy system will immediately benefit from any technology, efficiency, or carbon reduction strategy implemented at the system’s central facilities. Today, district energy systems like Vicinity’s are taking critical steps to eliminate carbon emissions in buildings, offering data centers a path forward to meeting their sustainability goals.
- Energy efficiency and cost savings: District energy systems use centralized cooling, which can be more efficient than individual systems in data centers. This can reduce energy consumption and lower energy costs.
- Space savings: Buildings connected to a district energy system no longer need space for onsite boilers, chillers, water heaters, and cooling towers. This space-saving benefit is critical for buildings that require large open spaces for operating equipment or much-needed tenant space.
Connect with a member of our team to get started with district chilled water in your data center today and access reliable, uninterrupted service.
