Big Blue Goes Big Green With Its Own Data Center
But some companies, like IBM, usually don’t need to use such phrases or make such claims because they’ve been actually walking the walk with their own technology since the very start. And IBM’s commitment to the ‘walk’ is continuing with its advent of green technology adoption and innovation. Big Blue has been awarded the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification by the U.S. Green Building Council for its new data center at its Research Triangle Park campus. The new facility, which opened in February 2010, is IBM's first LEED Gold certified data center. IBM’s re-use of 95% of an existing building and its efforts in recycling 90% of the materials from the original building reduced the carbon footprint associated with the 100,000 square feet building by nearly 50%. The facility features a unique rainwater collection system which generates non-potable water and IBM estimates that the 160,000 square foot roof area can collect approximately 3.5 million gallons per year. There is also a reflective roof to reduce the indoor temperature and cooling technology which utilizes outside air to free-cool the data center for nearly half the year. In addition there is an intelligent sensor network which continuously reads temperature and relative humidity and can dynamically adjust cooling in response to changes in demand. That alone will cut energy costs by 15%, says IBM. IBM used an innovative modular design method - called IBM Enterprise Modular Data Center which provides the ability to add significant future capacity in nearly half the time it would take traditional data centers to expand. It also means that 40% of capital costs and up to 50% of operational costs may be deferred until client demand necessitates expansion. Green obviously means both energy conservation and saving money in IBM's eyes. |
