Green Initiatives and Energy Conservation in a Modern Atlanta Datacenter

The ‘Green Initiative’ is not just a focus at datacenters around the country—it is THE focus, with energy efficiency being the central element from which most conservation strategy stems from. Power needs of the modern datacenter are ever-increasing as is the skyrocketing cost of energy, so finding ways to cut operating costs becomes an obvious priority. The environmental aspects of improving energy efficiency started out as a welcome, but secondary, benefit after the priority of reducing datacenter overhead.

The mounting tidal wave of research regarding the impact of carbon-based fuels on the environment and our climate has consumers very aware and concerned about our planet’s limited resources and reducing the ‘carbon footprint’. The green benefits of energy conservation are no longer a secondary consideration for server and colocation datacenters. Businesses are now waking up to the importance of aligning themselves with their consumer market through an image of environmental responsibility. In addition, datacenter managers and owners themselves have become concerned consumers and bring their own motivations to the workplace for improving datacenter energy efficiency and green practices.

An Atlanta Datacenter gets Green

Established in 1994, our Atlanta data center Global Net Access (GNAX) has been incorporating energy recycling and other green practices from the day of ground breaking on the 65,000 square foot facility. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Energy Star have teamed to develop high standards of energy efficiency for modern datacenters and the server technology they employ. Starting in January 2009, Energy Star began the data collection process for developing an Energy Star Rating for data centers. With the many green initiatives GNAX has implemented, and with more in the works, we’re confident that our main Atlanta colocation hub, as well as our satellite Dallas datacenter, will pass their rating standards with flying colors. Read on for details about the creative energy recycling systems GNAX has put into practice, as well as our further green initiatives for the coming year.

Current Energy Efficiency Strategies Deliver Big Results

With a 2000 server datacenter utilizing 8 mega watts of power and two tons of cooling, GNAX puts energy efficiency at the top of its list of priorities. Our team works on ways to get the most for the energy dollar, while keeping server performance at peak.

Creative Heat Recycling Applications

The Offices

When the Atlanta datacenter building was first constructed, GNAX included heat pumps from the onset to funnel BTUS from our server cooling towers directly to the company offices for heating.

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