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This presentation is about opportunities. And looking for them “outside the box”
we’re used to.

Whether you’re looking at new build, legacy retrofit, fitout of existing space.

Opportunities to do better than the benchmarks we’ve been focused on for the past
10-15 years.

To protect the planet, and your money (i.e. Your business).

At a recent US conference I attended, a LEED Platinum DC from Canada was

honoured, and presented their design.
A question asked was “how much extra did it cost to achieve Platinum?”
The answer – “not as much as we thought it would, once we analysed it fully”

NEA Singapore review in 2010-2012 found:

• DCs could reduce energy use by mainly air management and plant loading
• Small & Medium DCs – payback < 2 years (12% energy reduction)
• Large DCs - payback 4.2 years (16% energy reduction)

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The concept “One Planet Living” is based on the simple proposition that we only have
one planet earth, whereas Ecological Footprinting analysis (Link) shows that if
everyone on earth lived like the average Australian, we’d need more than 3 planets to
support us (Link1, Link2).

Planets
SG 3.141176
MY 2.858824
TH 1.394118

For Australia, its an extra Planet!!

AU 4.023529

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Zero carbon Making buildings more energy efficient and delivering all energy with
renewable technologies .

Zero waste Reducing waste, reusing where possible, and ultimately sending zero
waste to landfill .

Sustainable transport Encouraging low carbon modes of transport to reduce

emissions, reducing the need to travel .

Sustainable materials Using sustainable healthy products, with low embodied energy,
sourced locally, made from renewable or waste resources .

Local and sustainable food Choosing low impact, local, seasonal and organic diets
and reducing food waste .

Sustainable water Using water more efficiently in buildings and in the products we
buy; tackling local flooding and water course pollution .

Land use and wildlife Protecting and restoring biodiversity and natural habitats
through appropriate land use and integration into the built environment .

Culture and community Reviving local identity and wisdom; supporting and
participating in the arts .

Equity and local economy Creating bioregional economies that support fair
employment, inclusive communities and international fair trade. 6
LEED

BREEAM

GreenMark:
Carbon / Energy 83 points
Water 12 points
Sustainable Materials and Waste 2 points (a bit soft though)
Health (IEQ) 8 points
“Other” could include Transport, Land Use, more of above (10 points)

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Zero carbon Making buildings more energy efficient and delivering all energy with
renewable technologies .

Renewable Energy Sources – Wind?

And Solar?

Don’t forget that they have to be BUILT somewhere.... And that the land use is a
factor overall. Shared use or co-existent use with natural habitat is a good balance.

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Zero carbon Making buildings more energy efficient and delivering all energy with
renewable technologies .

Renewable Energy Sources – Hydro?

Don’t forget the real impact of valleys of forest drowned by dams, and the equipment
manufactured to make it all work.

But it’s still much better than the “baseline” alternatives......

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Zero carbon Making buildings more energy efficient and delivering all energy with
renewable technologies .

Mostly we’re stuck with what we can get from the grid. Coal, Oil, gas or whatever it
might be.

So we’ve focused in the past, and will continue to in the foreseeable future, on
Energy (hence Carbon emissions, in most locations). That still matters, and always
will......

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Zero carbon Making buildings more energy efficient and delivering all energy with
renewable technologies .

For good reason....

Green, orange, red lines vs Yellow line – IT efficiency impact up the chain.

% losses consistent in all four as we move back towards grid. Look at the impact it
has....

Energy Use & Efficiency

Lighting, Daylighting
Heat recovery
Building Fabric, orientation

You can see, and will already be aware - Cooling system is the biggest non-IT
component DC load (usually).

Let’s look at some cooling opportunities you might not have seen.

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Indirect Evaporative (or Adiabatic) Cooling

Air cycle within the Data Centre.

Evaporative system cools the circulating air

Some form of backup coil that can be staged on to supplement cooling from
evaporation.

Works well where water is readily available, and humidity is low. Not so well here in
Singapore (but workable and worthwhile – still better than a water cooled system).

Water use is OK with very low humidity, and can be used with Salt water (in theory).

A variant on this is the Air-Air Heat Exchanger – no evaporation, use outside air temp
to cool recirculating air.

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How does it work?

•Hot aisle containment

•Hot aisle high level coil PLUS back of rack coil

•Close coupled fans

•Adiabatic cooling of condenser water using Fluid Coolers

•CDU with compressor when ambient requires

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E-Comb - New Builds and Fit-Outs
• Up to 50kW per rack
• Look and feel of traditional facility
• Installed as a modular building or into an existing building utilizing only the
interior components of the pod.
• Rapid density scalability
• Highly flexible and customizable for specific size and IT requirements

Also available as retrofit solution

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How does it work?

•Hot aisle containment

•Hot aisle high level coil PLUS back of rack coil

•Close coupled fans

•Adiabatic cooling of condenser water using Fluid Coolers

•CDU with compressor when ambient requires

•Predicted annualised pPUE in Singapore = 1.12 (peak 1.15).

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Uses a certain set of assumptions which might not match your scheme. Weighted to
common loadings:

1% of time 25%
40% 50%
45% 75%
12% 100%

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At a steady 75% loading, the water cooled system performance and Adiabatic
performance is better. Does not make much difference to the Inertech e-Comb
system.

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Will this be your Data Centre at the end of its life?

Materials are scarce, expensive, limited. And can be reused if selected right to start
with.

Waste can be collected

How do we minimise WASTE? And control the selection of materials?

Selection of materials and their embodied energy – steel, concrete – huge energy to
create them. How much sense does this make?

A cubic metre of concrete requires about 240 tons CO2 to produce (and then you
have to transport, mix, and install it.....)

A ton of steel requires about 1.9 tons of CO2 to produce.... And likewise to transport,
treat, install....

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How do WE minimise WASTE? And control the selection of materials?

How did THEY minimise waste, and control material quality and selection – 100 years
ago

Learn from other industries!

Whether we’re talking about toasters, TVs, or cars...

When there are hundreds, thousands, hundreds of thousands......

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How do we minimise WASTE?

Learn from other industries!

Build Data Centres like we build cars...... They figured it out long ago.

The PRODUCT MENTALITY....

Does it seem expensive? Check Youtube for Fortrust story on “Adopting a Modular
Approach” how they moved from a conventional build facility to complete the fitout
with prefab modules, at lower cost than their original scheme and all the “improved”
schemes they could develop. They knew they could do better.

And they did.

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A side note.......

Another benefit of mass production is DEPENDABLILITY:

• Availability
• Reliability
• Maintainability
• Safety.

But it doesn’t solve some of the biggest Data Centre risks:

• complexity...

<CLICK>

• Promotes risk of HUMAN ERROR

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How do we minimise WASTE in Energy?

We can co-exist with other industries! And use excess heat to generate power as well
as get “free” cooling.

Use an “industrial Ecology” scheme.

<CLICK>

LNG Distribution Terminals – need heat input to vaporise gas for distribution, and
generate excess cooling.

<CLICK>

Build Data Centres adjacent to source of COLD from industry. Done so far in:
China • 2012: Air separation and liquefaction
Japan • 1977: 1.45 MW expansion turbine - clean power
• 1982-2000: Clean power capacity expands to 14 MW
• 1979: Air separation and liquefaction
• 2000: Cooling for 435 MW co-gen plant
• 2005: Frozen foods, cold warehouse, dry
ice & chemical manufacturing
S. Korea • 2006: Air separation, cryogenic grinding
Taiwan • 1996: 3 MW expansion turbine - clean power
• 2005: Water cooling for aquaculture
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How do we minimise WASTE?

Industrial Ecology -Teracool

There’s a location near you waiting for your waste heat.

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Sustainable water Using water more efficiently in buildings and in the products we
buy; tackling local flooding and water course pollution .

Cooling Towers / Water Cooled systems are not too good for this.

And in some locations, water is a SCARCE resource.

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Sustainable water Using water more efficiently in buildings and in the products we
buy; tackling local flooding and water course pollution .

Cooling Towers on this site are watered by rainwater collection.

Rainwater off roof, ground water not collected due to possible pollutants. These are
treated by Gross Pullutant Trap in bottom corner.

Rainwater Harvesting manages local runoff in high flow, plus retains site water for
cooling usage.

Future tanks installed when towers and load growth demands.

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Equity and local economy Creating bioregional economies that support fair employment,
inclusive communities and international fair trade.

Data Centre opportunities?

Local employment

Local industry supply sources

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Maybe not strictly on topic, but if the Data Centre is going to be an ongoing business,
then yes.....

Chris Crosby, Compass Data Centres – a US based prefabricated Data Centre

developer:
Myth = Size drives out cost.
Truth – product mentality drives out cost

<CLICK>

• Ability to deploy capital on demand

• Adaptable and flexible deployment options
• 140 days from Order to Install vs. traditional custom built 18-36mth time frame
• High resiliency to market and technology trends
• Build once the customer is contracted vs. “build and they will come” mentality
• DC 2.0 software provides greater control over energy consumption and allocation
decreasing energy OPEX

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Land use and wildlife Protecting and restoring biodiversity and natural habitats
through appropriate land use and integration into the built environment .

What’s the existing use?

What’s the possible RE-use opportunity?

What’s the best use for the local economy and community?

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Sustainable transport Encouraging low carbon modes of transport to reduce
emissions, reducing the need to travel .

Local and sustainable food Choosing low impact, local, seasonal and organic diets
and reducing food waste .

Culture and community Reviving local identity and wisdom; supporting and
participating in the arts .

What can a Data Centre contribute to these?

Transport
• site selection – near transport links – freight and people
• how much freight movement goes on? For an ENTERPRISE DC we designed
recently, forecast truck movements in stable operation were TWO / week. Over 10-
15 years, that’s a lot of trucks.

Culture and Community

• community connections, Local and sustainable food
• open space?
• share waste heat
• staff facilities?

– waste heat use? It’s been done in Canada, where Bastionhost converted a cold war
nuclear bunker to a DC, uses waste heat for Hydroponics (and as an primary producer,
avoids local fuel taxes!) 29
Culture and community Reviving local identity and wisdom; supporting and participating in
the arts .
Health and happiness Encouraging active, sociable, meaningful lives to promote good health
and well being.
When we look at the enviromental impact of Data Centres, its a “too much energy” story.
But there is hardly ever an accounting of the resources SAVED through the use of IT. What’s
this guy doing?
• saving a trip to the bank across town?
• checking on public transport status – bus locations by GPS, timetables?
• telecommuting (working)?
• ordering a take-away meal? Or anything else online?
All of these activities SAVE resource – significant resource – and save TIME for people.

Disruptive Technologies that are coming, or here (McKinsey Disruptive Technologies: that will
transform life, business, and the global economy):
They name 12 – a few of these with major sustainability impacts ENABLED by the DATA
CENTRE:
• Mobile (above)
• The Internet of Things
• Automation of Knowledge work
• 3D Printing
• Autonomous Vehicles
Potential for greater health and happiness, enhanced culture and community. There’s a gap
in the social media landscape which to many is disconnecting people, not connecting them.
Real time phone-phone Video is one shift that may change that.
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