Digital Realty - Rackspace Partnership Sprouts Innovative Green Data Center

On Thursday, global data center REIT Digital Realty Trust, Inc. DLR and leading cloud-services provider Rackspace Hosting, Inc. RAX jointly announced the opening of a 130,000 square foot Crawley, West Sussex UK data center.

While the facility function is to provide managed cloud services for colocation customers in the UK and Europe, the enhanced green technology in its construction and design is a major part of the story.

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Energy Savings' Perspective

The design team's innovative approach to cooling is estimated to cut overhead energy in the Crawley facility by an astonishing figure, almost 80 percent, compared to traditional HVAC and data center designs.

Investors who aren't familiar with the ins and outs of how cloud storage works might be surprised by how much energy a typical data center consumes; it is measured in MW, or how much energy it takes to power about 1,000 homes.

The 24 degrees Celsius is equivalent to just over 72 degrees Fahrenheit, a temperature set point that is adequate for server performance as well as a comfortable working environment for the Rackspace data center staff.

Saving Energy = Saving Money

The companies announced, "The initial build … provides 6MW capacity across two data suites, and will eventually comprise of four data suites with a total 12MW capacity."

The statement continued, "The site allows for further expansion up to 30MW, and a staggered build approach maximizes year-on-year advances in technology and efficiency gains."

Tale Of The Tape – Investors Also See Green

Tons Of Cooling Energy Saved

The apples to apples comparison for data center energy usage is referred to as PUE (power usage effectiveness). The new Crawley facility comes in at a PUE of 1.15 as compared to an average of 1.7, according to Rackspace.

Rackspace is using an indirect cooling solution that results in much lower water consumption than other systems in its class and significantly less water than a traditional cooling tower.

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Mark Roenigk, COO of Rackspace, commented, "This data center is the epitome of intelligent 21st century infrastructure engineering. We partnered with industry leaders to design and deliver one of the most environmentally friendly and reliable data centers in Europe."

The Crawley data center has adopted a blend of the ASHRAE Recommended and Allowable Ranges promoting best performance without impacting server availability. This has enabled Rackspace to remove more typical refrigerant cooling systems.

The report continued, "The new operation is the first data center in the UK to make use of innovative 'indirect outside air' cooling technology on this scale, without mechanical cooling, which means the overhead energy required to operate the data center has been cut by almost 80 percent."

Digital Realty - Rackspace Green Collaboration

Digital Realty CEO Bill Stein added, "With the addition of the Crawley site, the Digital Realty – Rackspace collaboration, which began in 2011, has been extended to a third continent. We are delighted to see Rackspace establish its new managed cloud data center with such outstanding eco-credentials; in addition, Rackspace's recent expansion in Sydney is accessing clean energy through Digital Realty's 'Clean Start' program."

Investor Takeaway

There are multiple benefits that can be accrued by corporations who lead the way with sustainable design efforts, beyond just the energy savings that fall to the bottom line.

These benefits flow from a perceived "green halo," which can lead to greater support from the local community, assist in an accelerated lease-up, as well as attract support from socially responsible funds and institutional investors.

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