More than 50 percent of the total energy consumption of data centers can be attributed to the power and cooling infrastructure that supports the IT equipment housed in them. Guidance in a new book from ASHRAE aims to help reduce that energy use through proven, easy-to-implement tips.

Green Tips for Data Centers identifies techniques for optimizing energy efficiency in existing datacom facilities. Many of the techniques can be implemented through simple operational changes, upgrades or modifications that require a relatively low investment and that cause little disruption to the existing operations of the IT equipment.

“The book has particular relevance right now since there is a significant focus on energy efficiency in data centers,” Don Beaty, co-founder of ASHRAE Technical Committee (TC) 9.9, Mission Critical Facilities, Technology Spaces and Electronic Equipment, said. “While it is fun and exciting to look at how we can design new data centers to be energy efficient, the fact is that there are many, many existing datacenters in operation.”

Among the 26 tips from the book are:

• Optimize supply air temperatures
• Install monitoring equipment
• Improve lighting efficiency
• Optimize data storage
• Improve transformer efficiencies

“The tips provide insight into practical techniques that have proven successful in other datacom facilities and give owners and operators the confidence to implement similar techniques in their own facilities,” Beaty said.

The book is part of the ASHRAE Datacom Series, developed to provide a more comprehensive treatment of datacom cooling and related subjects. Other books in the series are Particulate and Gaseous Contamination in Datacom Environments, “High Density Data Centers – Case Studies and Best Practices,” “Design Considerations for Datacom Equipment Centers,” “Best Practices for Datacom Facility Energy Efficiency,” “Thermal Guidelines for Data Processing Environments,” “Liquid Cooling Guidelines for Datacom Equipment Centers,” “Datacom Equipment Power Trends and Cooling Applications” and “Structural and Vibration Guidelines for Datacom Equipment Centers.”