Data Centers - Completed

Data Centers - Completed

Organizations participating in the Data Center Accelerator committed to reducing the infrastructure energy intensity of one or more of their data centers by 25% over a period of five years. Federal agencies, national laboratories, higher education facilities, and private businesses worked with DOE to meter and track both their IT and infrastructure energy usage and developed creative and cost-effective energy efficiency improvements to reach their energy savings goals. On average, partners achieved a 36% improvement in their data center’s infrastructure energy surpassing the Accelerator’s original goal, resulting in $3.9 million in annual cost savings.
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Data Center Challenge Partners

Learn about the great work of the Data Center Partners in the Better Buildings Challenge. Access proven solutions and other helpful resources for data centers.

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Watch all previously recorded webinars in the On-Demand Webinars library sorted by popular topics such as resilience, zero energy buildings, and more.

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Featured Solutions

Data Center Accelerator Toolkit Toolkits
This toolkit addresses specific barriers and solutions for energy management in 5 primary data center types, including real-world examples for each. It collects guidance, factsheets, best practices, and other resources based on the work of DOE's Better Buildings Data Center Accelerator.
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LBNL's Operational Data Analytics for Data Center Energy Management Implementation Model
To achieve and maintain lasting operational efficiency at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing (NERSC) Center, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) developed a sophisticated data analytics (ODA) system – Operations Monitoring and Notification Infrastructure (OMNI) to provide key operational insights about the data centers performance and energy efficiency.
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Data Center Optimization at NREL Research Support Facility Showcase Project
In order to maintain the facility's net-zero energy status, NREL improved the efficiency of the Research Support Facility's data center by upgrading outdated IT equipment, consolidating blade centers, and improving the metering system among other best practices. As a result, the data center achieved an 84% reduction in PUE.
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Data Center Metering and Resource Guide Guidance
This guide intends to help data center owners and operators implement a metering system that allows their organizations to gather the necessary data for effective decision-making and energy-efficiency improvements.
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Other Resources

Presentations

Sustainable Data Centers Presentation
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) boasts the most energy efficient data center in the world. This presentation describes the data center, its energy efficient features, and how it was built.
Lessons Learned from the World's Most Energy Efficient Data Center Presentation
This presentation from the Data Center World Conference looks at the holistic approach taken by the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in designing the world's most energy efficient data center.

Report

Air Management in Small Data Centers Report
This report explores air management best practices in small data centers under 5,000 square feet. Good air management in data centers is not only imperative for energy efficiency but also for managing the thermal environment and ensuring equipment reliability.

Showcase Project

Liquid Cooling Success at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab’s 50B-1275 Data Center Showcase Project
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s (LBNL) enterprise data center used for in-house needs and scientific computing, was rebuilt in the mid-1990s and has continued to undergo a series of transitions and energy efficiency upgrades to meet increased demand.

Toolkit

Data Center Accelerator Toolkit Toolkits
This toolkit addresses specific barriers and solutions for energy management in 5 primary data center types, including real-world examples for each. It collects guidance, factsheets, best practices, and other resources based on the work of DOE's Better Buildings Data Center Accelerator.

Additional Information

Center of Expertise for Energy Efficiency in Data Centers
The Center of Expertise is located at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). LBNL has long been recognized by industry as a leading source for technical expertise on energy efficiency in data centers. View their available resources, tools and trainings.

ASHRAE Paper - Thermosyphon Cooler Hybrid System for Water Savings in an Energy-Efficient HPC Data Center: Modeling and Installation
This paper describes the installation of thermosyphon cooler hybrid systems.

NREL's High-Performance Computing Data Center
View information about NREL's high-performance data center and see the center's energy efficiency dashboard as well as other technologies they have implemented.

Sector Priorities

Partners

A-Z

Argonne National Laboratory
Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory
Georgia Institute of Technology
Indiana University
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory
NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center
National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Stanford University
State of Michigan
The Home Depot
U.S. Department of Defense - Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA)
U.S. Department of Justice – Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA)
University of Colorado
Waste Management

Location

California

Lawrence Berkeley National Lab
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center
National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center
Stanford University

Colorado

National Renewable Energy Laboratory
University of Colorado

District Of Columbia

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)

Georgia

Georgia Institute of Technology
The Home Depot

Illinois

Argonne National Laboratory

Indiana

Indiana University

Maryland

U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA)

Michigan

State of Michigan

Missouri

U.S. Department of Justice – Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)

New Mexico

Los Alamos National Laboratory

North Carolina

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Tennessee

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Texas

Waste Management

Virginia

U.S. Department of Defense - Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA)

Washington

Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory