10 ways to make data centers more efficient and sustainable

In today’s digital era, data centers stand as the cornerstones of our technologically advanced world, facilitating nearly all aspects of modern life, from remote work to online shopping. With the ongoing expansion to meet global demands, data centers' energy consumption and environmental implications have reached a critical juncture. Considering that data centers currently account for approximately 3% of global electricity consumption and about 2% of global carbon emissions, as per a recent Deloitte report, addressing the environmental impact of these facilities has become increasingly critical.

As these numbers are only projected to continue to rise, it becomes important for data centers to prioritize investments in energy-efficient infrastructure. To help achieve internal sustainability goals and meet increasingly stringent regulations, while effectively managing ever-growing demand for more capacity, data center operators will require tools that automate workflows, improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions. 

Here are 10 opportunities to help enable modern data centers to be more efficient and sustainable today and into the future:

1. Location – A data center’s location is a significant sustainability factor, influenced by way of climate, cleaner energy access, and local policies. Situating facilities where abundant renewable generation exists helps minimize non-renewable energy demand while cooler climates help reduce cooling requirements. 

2. Renewable Energy Sources – Transitioning data centers to operate on more renewable energy is a method to help reduce the carbon footprint of a data center. Onsite solar panels or procuring solar/wind power from renewable power utilities can help effectively minimize fossil fuel usage. Many leading global companies, including Google, Apple, and Facebook, have publically committed to powering their operations with renewable energy, and their sustainability commitments are pioneering examples that show the way forward to the industry.

3. Cooling Systems - In traditional data centers, cooling accounts for 40%+ of energy consumed. With the ability to reduce cooling needs can help improve sustainability efforts. Outside air systems help reduce reliance on air conditioning in suitable climates while free cooling infrastructure design leverages ambient external air to help remove heat. Liquid cooling via chilled water or immersive baths can also help minimize demands on air handling. There are different options available for cooling including direct-to-chip cooling and full immersion cooling. Plus, the use of low global warming potential (GWP) engineered liquid coolants instead of water, can directly help reduce  water usage, as well as help lower carbon emissions. 

4. Energy Efficiency - Energy-efficient hardware and virtualization are critical to help optimize data center sustainability. Upgrading to the latest energy-efficient server, storage, and networking gear can help reduce energy in comparison to the older equipment and infrastructure. Features like low-power processors and solid-state drives can help cut consumption, helping to reduce carbon emissions. Decommissioning outdated legacy hardware is also important to consider. 

5. Green Building Design - Sustainable data center construction utilizes more eco-friendly structural materials, smart orientation, and rigorous insulation to help minimize environmental control system demands. Optimizing building layouts to leverage natural light and ventilation along with specifying sustainable construction materials – as well as reuse of waste heat – are central to green design. 

6. Waste Heat Recovery - Reusing data center waste heat – rather than releasing it into the environment – can help reduce the environmental impact. Capturing and repurposing waste heat helps reduce environmental impact by lowering heating fuel combustion and total energy demand. Waste heat from data centers can help warm offices, power industrial processes, or transfer energy into district heating systems. At a sufficient scale, excess heat can even be converted to cooling via absorption chillers. 

7. Optimized Hardware - Targeting holistic data center energy optimization requires keeping infrastructure performance closely aligned with current processing demands. Continuously evaluating storage, network, and server provisioning needs allows capacity right-sizing while automated data migration from old hardware combined with selective decommissioning and consolidation helps optimize infrastructure utilization.

8. Monitoring & Analytics - Data analytics help create increased visibility into a data center’s energy usage and helps provide improved insights to enable sustainability efforts. Monitoring systems can help gather operational intelligence, providing usage patterns and efficiency metrics analysis to hone operations. Expert systems can help assess collected data in real-time and perform predictive modeling to help optimize configurations for improved environmental impact to facilitate perpetual improvements.

9. Circular Economy in Action - Circularity focuses on recycling components and extending hardware lifespan through refurbishment and redeployment. Server refresh cycles can improve over the standard, while still delivering the required performance. Similarly, networking gear and data storage frequently offer second lives when reallocated to backup environments with lower processing specifications. This circular economy thinking helps reduce waste while unlocking hidden value.

10. Government Incentives and Certifications - Strict regulations and government policies also help incentivize more sustainable practices. Adhering to environmental compliance certifications like LEED and localized emissions policies helps encourage facilities to drive sustainability progress while programs like renewable energy tax credits offer financial benefits to help eco-friendly operations. 

Atul Pai

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Atul Pai is Vice President and General Manager, Building Automation at Honeywell India