For Release: June 21, 2018
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recognizes DOE’s Better Buildings Challenge partner, Sabey Data Centers, for the energy productivity achievements of its Intergate.Quincy multi-tenant data center. As a partner in DOE’s Better Buildings Challenge, Sabey committed to improving its energy performance by 20 percent over a 10-year period, and to sharing the results and strategies with other companies. The company surpassed its original goal of 20 percent by 2024, improving energy performance across its more than 3 million square feet of data center space by 24 percent from a 2014 baseline.
“Through the DOE’s Better Buildings Challenge, data centers like Sabey’s are using energy more productively,” said Kathleen Hogan, deputy assistant secretary for energy efficiency in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) at DOE. “We applaud Sabey for sharing its results and best practices with other companies.”
A majority of the data center locations operated and maintained by Sabey are multi-tenant colocation facilities, where each customer may have varied needs, including different server enclosures and non-standard IT equipment. This can make it difficult to implement facility-wide energy-efficient designs and technologies.
To overcome these challenges and achieve its energy productivity goals, Sabey incorporated several energy conservation measures, including implementing indirect evaporative cooling computer room air handlers (CRAHs) and segregating uninterruptible power supply (UPS) batteries to reduce electrical energy required to cool the data center. Sabey also selected a highly-efficient UPS system and utilized variable speed drive (VSDs) fans to control fan speed and match server load requirements.
Ultimately, the project has exceeded Sabey’s expectations, cutting infrastructure energy intensity by 57 percent. These savings translated into more than $200,000 in reduced annual energy costs.
In addition to the energy and cost savings passed on to customers, the integration of energy conservation measures allows for a very simple data center environment control strategy, leading to an increase in the overall reliability and customer satisfaction with the Intergate Quincy data center. Sabey was recently recognized by DOE as an example of leadership in action in the 2018 Better Buildings Challenge Progress Report.
Through the Better Buildings Challenge, DOE works with more than 350 market leaders that represent more than 4.4 billion square feet of building space. Partners reduced their energy intensity by an average of two percent per year, keeping them on track to meet the program’s 10-year, 20% reduction goal. Additionally, through the Better Buildings Challenge, more than 40 Financial Allies have extended more than $12 billion in capital for efficiency projects. Visit the Better Buildings Solution Center to learn more.