Interxion, a European provider of carrier- and cloud-neutral colocation data center services and a Digital Realty company, announces it has reduced its cooling system energy consumption by 20% during the first year of an ongoing project with data center optimization specialist, EkkoSense.
The project – which commenced last February – has been designed to focus on thermal monitoring and airflow optimization, increasing cooling capacity and reducing the energy cost of cooling equipment at West Drayton, a key London site.
Improving operational performance
The project closely follows a recently announced wind energy agreement for Digital Realty's portfolio in Texas and represents another step towards reducing the combined organization's global carbon footprint as it looks to set a science-based target later in the year.
Throughout the project, Interxion leveraged EkkoSense's EkkoSoft® Critical software, which provides real-time visibility of key data center operational and thermal performance to monitor the site, identify areas for improvement – such as with the floor grille layout and fan performance – and subsequently recommended the appropriate changes to optimize performance. These software-driven insights were the key driver behind the success of the project, which has helped Interxion reduce cooling system energy consumption by 20%, further improving operational performance.
Reducing energy consumption
The results from our initial project with EkkoSense have been nothing short of impressive"
"The results from our initial project with EkkoSense have been nothing short of impressive," said Jeff Tapley, Group Managing Director, Interxion, a Digital Realty company. "As an organization, we take very seriously our responsibility to create green, energy-efficient data centers. This means we are constantly looking for innovative ways of reducing energy consumption and ensuring we play our part in supporting the UK's 2050 net zero emissions target."
James Kirkwood, Head of Critical Services at EkkoSense, added, "Interxion and EkkoSense have clearly demonstrated that technological innovation – through advanced thermal optimization software – can deliver significant energy savings."
Ongoing monitoring and evaluation
"The unique performance analytics built into EkkoSoft® Critical have highlighted airflow and cooling inefficiencies and provided visibility into critical metrics throughout the energy-saving process. The team at Interxion also uses the software on a daily basis for ongoing monitoring and evaluation capacity planning activities to maintain the optimized state as the environment changes," concluded Kirkwood.
The partnership with EkkoSense is one of Digital Realty's many ongoing sustainability projects, including renewable procurement for its EMEA portfolio, wind power for its U.S. colocation business and carbon-free and renewable power supplied to several Northern California properties. The project with EkkoSense is expected to expand to two New York data centers operated by Digital Realty as well as five additional European sites.
