A single mobile phone uses more energy per unit than a refrigerator, not so much in terms of recharging but in the data traffic and other actions the phone creates.
The Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector consumes as much as 10% of the world’s electricity, a sizable portion of which goes toward operating data centers that are the spine of the Internet and the cloud.
Large data centers can use more electricity than a midsize town. However, much of that energy ends up being released as heat into the atmosphere, to the point where carbon emissions from data centers could exceed what the entire airline industry spews annually within the next five years.
Consequently, as data centers expand, greater emphasis is being placed on controlling their impact on the environment. Apple claims that all of its data centers are powered by 100% renewable energy, including new data centers in Denmark and Ireland that will be completed in 2017. Apple has also made an $850 million investment in a solar farm in California to power its new campus in Silicon Valley, all its California offices and data centers, and its data center in Newark, Calif.
In Falun, Sweden, the municipality owned Falu Energi & Vatten is collaborating with Schneider Electric and EcoDC AB, which specializes in designing and building climate-smart data centers, to build what this team is calling the world’s first climate-positive data center.
The location of this three-building, 250,000-sf EcoDataCenter is relevant. Falun is one of the greenest towns on the planet. Ninety-five percent of houses with district heat in Falun (about half of all homes in the municipality) are provided with heat from a cogeneration plant that recycles forestry waste to produce electricity and warm water.
The town also has one of Sweden’s largest solar panel arrays. More than half of Falun’s energy needs are provided by hydro, wind, and cogeneration plants, with the rest coming from renewable sources such as solar and secondary biofuels.
Consequently, 100% of the energy that the EcoDataCenter would use will come from renewable sources. The 18-megawatt data center will be connected to Falun’s energy grid, and excess heat from its servers and equipment will warm buildings in the town’s district heating system. During the summer, excess steam from a local electricity plant will run machines that cool the data center.
No electricity will be required to increase the return water temperature from the data center. Heat from the data center replaces existing marginal heat production with high CO2 emissions. This CO2 replacement will exceed total CO2 emissions from the data center during a year.
EcoDataCenter’s first building should be completed in the first quarter of 2016. When fully operational, EcoDataCenter should attain the highest levels of availability and security classification. (It is expected to be Sweden’s first to achieve a Tier IV certification from Uptime Institute.)
The data center is projected to operate with a power usage effectiveness (PUE)—useful IT kilowatts divided by totally used kilowatts—of less than 1.15.
Related Stories
Industrial Facilities | Aug 3, 2023
The state of battery manufacturing in the era of EV
One of the most significant changes seen in today’s battery plant is the full manufacturing process—from raw materials to the fully operational battery.
Market Data | Aug 1, 2023
Nonresidential construction spending increases slightly in June
National nonresidential construction spending increased 0.1% in June, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data published today by the U.S. Census Bureau. Spending is up 18% over the past 12 months. On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, nonresidential spending totaled $1.07 trillion in June.
Digital Twin | Jul 31, 2023
Creating the foundation for a Digital Twin
Aligning the BIM model with the owner’s asset management system is the crucial first step in creating a Digital Twin. By following these guidelines, organizations can harness the power of Digital Twins to optimize facility management, maintenance planning, and decision-making throughout the building’s lifecycle.
Market Data | Jul 24, 2023
Leading economists call for 2% increase in building construction spending in 2024
Following a 19.7% surge in spending for commercial, institutional, and industrial buildings in 2023, leading construction industry economists expect spending growth to come back to earth in 2024, according to the July 2023 AIA Consensus Construction Forecast Panel.
Standards | Jun 26, 2023
New Wi-Fi standard boosts indoor navigation, tracking accuracy in buildings
The recently released Wi-Fi standard, IEEE 802.11az enables more refined and accurate indoor location capabilities. As technology manufacturers incorporate the new standard in various devices, it will enable buildings, including malls, arenas, and stadiums, to provide new wayfinding and tracking features.
Industrial Facilities | Jun 20, 2023
A new study presses for measuring embodied carbon in industrial buildings
The embodied carbon (EC) intensity in core and shell industrial buildings in the U.S. averages 23.0 kilograms per sf, according to a recent analysis of 26 whole building life-cycle assessments. That means a 300,000-sf warehouse would emit 6,890 megatons of carbon over its lifespan, or the equivalent of the carbon emitted by 1,530 gas-powered cars driven for one year. Those sobering estimates come from a new benchmark study, “Embodied Carbon U.S. Industrial Real Estate.”
Industrial Facilities | May 31, 2023
Nascent cowarehousing firm steps forward with facilities that offer a communal user experience
The design firm Ware Malcomb has partnered with FlexHQ, a Los Angeles-based firm offering cowarehouse leasing solutions, to create a scalable workspace that emphasizes leasing flexibility and higher-quality and environmentally friendlier amenities than aren’t commonly found in this building type, say representatives from both companies.
Multifamily Housing | May 12, 2023
An industrial ‘eyesore’ is getting new life as an apartment complex
The project, in Metuchen, N.J., includes significant improvements to a nearby wildlife preserve.
Industrial Facilities | Apr 10, 2023
Implementing human-centric design in operations and maintenance facilities
Stantec's Ryan Odell suggests using the human experience to advance OMSF design that puts a focus on wellness and efficiency.
Warehouses | Mar 29, 2023
Construction completed on Canada’s first multi-story distribution center
Construction was recently completed on Canada’s first major multi-story industrial project, a distribution center in Burnaby, British Columbia. The project provides infrastructure for last-mile delivery in a world where consumers have come to expect next-day and same-day delivery, according to Ware Malcomb, the project's architect of record.
