Jay
Dietrich
Critics argue that data center water use is excessive and poorly managed. Operators should select a cooling system to fit the local climate and available water supply, explaining water use within the context of local conditions.
Jay Dietrich
Jay is the Research Director of Sustainability at Uptime Institute. Dietrich looks beyond the hype to analyze the transformations required in energy and IT systems, data centers and software management systems, and intra-organizational collaboration, both within and between companies, to deliver sustainable data center operations.
jdietrich@uptimeinstitute.com
Latest Research
Water is local: generalities do not apply
REPLAY | Strategies for powering data centers with carbon free power
Andy
Lawrence
Rapidly increasing electricity demand requires new generation capacity to power new data centers. What are some of the new, innovative power generation technology and procurement options being developed to meet capacity growth and what are their…
Remaining EED reporting deficiencies need immediate attention
The European Commission, with the assistance of operators, needs to correct ambiguities in the EED reporting processes. Industry solutions can improve the quality and completeness of the submitted data.
EED delegated report due early May — what's the rush?
The European Commission will soon publish its delegated report, recommending a data center rating scheme and performance standards. The accelerated timeline is too short to facilitate meaningful evaluation of these topics.
US state drafts plan for data center regulations
The New York state senate recently proposed legislation mandating data center information reporting and operational requirements. Although the Bill is unlikely to pass, the legislation indicates a likely framework for future regulation
IT efficiency: an untapped power resource
The data center industry’s growth projections can be met by combining energy supply growth and demand reduction. Highly utilized IT infrastructure and efficient software can mitigate demand growth while delivering needed IT capacity.
United Nations specs for IT efficiency: more work required
If adopted, the UNEP U4E server and storage product technical specifications may create a confusing and counter-productive regulatory structure. The current proposals are as likely to limit as improve data center operations' efficiency
REPLAY | IT consolidation: A critical data center sustainability initiative
As the industry power demand grows, IT operators must focus on both IT infrastructure power demand and supply. A portion of the required power growth can be eliminated through better utilization of existing and new IT infrastructure and software…
UN body’s data center guidelines cause concern
The UNEP U4E initiative has proposed guidelines for data center design and operation and server and storage product efficiency requirements. These have far-reaching implications for data center operations in developing countries.
Cooling systems: balancing cost, energy and water use
Data center operators building new systems can choose from nine categories of cooling technology. Innovative cooling equipment has minimized energy and water use and the average PUE for air-cooled and water-cooled systems.
Netherlands enforces efficiency mandates
The Netherlands is now enforcing the energy saving obligation, suggesting they will also enforce EED energy management system and audit requirements. Data center operators need to establish a plan to optimize their energy performance.
On-site natural gas: why some sites need it
Peter
Judge
Some operators are using natural gas for on-site power where the local grid is constrained. This will increase their emissions — but gas is essential in the transition to renewable energy and operators’ use of it is best seen in this light.
EED reporting limps out of the gate
The European Database on Data Centres is operational, but EU member state processes to provide required IDs are still being finalized. Operators should begin the data submittal process as member state coordinator(s) are assigned.
REPLAY | Does data center growth have to come at the cost of sustainability?
The acceleration of data center energy consumption growth projections appears to threaten sustainability objectives. Instead, it demands a reinvigoration of efforts to improve the energy efficiency of the IT infrastructure through better system…
Grid growth and decarbonization: an unhappy couple
The data center industry’s drive for carbon-free growth appears to be at odds with electricity grid stability. Data center operators will need to reorient their strategies to integrate growth, efficiency and decarbonization.
