Rachel Kelly Channel NewsAsia 3 Mar 11;
SINGAPORE: Data centres are known for their high energy consumption, roughly 40 to 60 per cent of a data centre's operating cost comes from energy usage. However, an increasing number of players are looking to reduce that figure and their carbon footprint.
As the IT industry continues to grow, the demand for data storage continues to rise.
Governments globally have introduced varying environmental guidelines for data centres to nudge industry participants in the right direction.
Clement Goh, Managing Director of data centre service provider Equinix Singapore, said: "People are more socially conscious, especially the larger MNCs. The other thing is, with green initiative typically you have higher expenditure to bring in the right equipment, but in the long run you will see a reduction in cost, because the consumption of energy will help to reduce the cost of a data centre.
"I think in South East Asia, Singapore is the leading country that has these standards, we see that there will be more followers moving forwards. Of course in Asia Pacific, Japan has started a standard of their own."
Some industry players said investments that data centres need to make in energy-saving initiatives should pay for themselves within 10 years.
Equinix has cut its energy usage by 10 per cent and the company is looking to bring that number to 30 per cent in the next five years. It has been using technology such as blue led lights which reduce energy usage by about one-to-two per cent in comparison to the everyday light bulb.
Mr Goh said: "In terms of being a global players we have 90 data centres worldwide, we have global standards in terms of how we put in place energy saving initiatives. For example, on all of our sites we use LED lights where ever possible. We also use a sensor based switch which also means that the rooms are blacked out unless there is activity in the room or data centre area.
"Also being a large consumer of infrastructure equipment we could influence our equipment manufacturers to use components that are energy efficient. One good example that we use here is crag units that use electrically commutated fans, which are fans that are more efficient, and also provide better airflow than the extended fans - and continuously working with the local government to ensure that we have a proper standard for the Singapore market."
The Nasdaq-listed company is also mindful of water conservation. It uses recycled NEWater to cool its new data centre in Singapore.
-CNA/ac
