Data centres save millions of litres; environment impact lauded.
A barely conceivable five gigalitres of water a year – that’s 5000 million litres – is being saved across 13 CDC-operated data centres in New Zealand and Australia through a unique closed-loop water cooling system.
In its two Auckland centres alone, the company says it will save 706m litres every year alone - equivalent to 280 Olympic-sized swimming pools - compared to similar sized data centres around the world.
CDC’s Managing Director in New Zealand, Andrew Kirker, says it is a huge sustainability success story. “Each year we save 5GL at all of our campuses, showing data centres don’t need to use much water for cooling,” he says.
Key to this mind-boggling achievement is the CDC-designed closed-loop system which largely eliminates the reliance on water for the extraction of heat produced by banks of IT equipment stored within the centres.
The CDC operation has been recognised through the Schneider Electric Sustainability Impact Awards. Schneider Electric is a global specialist in energy management and automation and its equipment powers CDC’s closed loop system.
Schneider’s Vice President Secure Power, Pacific Zone, Joe Craparotta, says CDC is an example of what Schneider calls an “Impact Maker”, a company that doesn’t just talk about sustainability but turns ambition into action at the intersection of technology and decarbonisation.
“Actions like this impact our daily lives and will help shape an energy efficient, secure and reliable future for generations to come,” he says.
Data centres consume a high level of energy to power their customers’ IT equipment and extract the heat they produce. Reliance on water for this extraction for many data centres is crucial in preventing critical system failure.
Kirker says conventional cooling methods, such as evaporative water-based cooling, continue to be widely used in the industry – a practice resulting in significant water loss and diversion of the resource from the communities in which data centres operate.
“On average, traditional data centres consume more than three glasses of water (800ml) per second for each megawatt of capacity,” he says. “By contrast our closed-loop system means we need fill the system only once and then circulate it continuously for the life of the data centre.”
“At Silverdale and Hobsonville [CDC’s Auckland facilities], we have only had to fill our systems once with just 190,000 litres when opening two years ago. If we were operating a traditional system, our water usage would be pretty scary.”
He says the magnitude of water consumption is a concern to water-stressed regions: “That is particularly so in Australia and is becoming an issue in New Zealand too. While we have done okay in the last year, it was only two or three years ago Auckland was facing water shortages and negotiating to take water from the Waikato River.
“We have a goal to become the most water-efficient data centre provider globally and have taken a deliberate approach in implementing the closed-loop system,” he says.
Kirker says CDC’s modern data centres are more efficient and sustainable than older ones and have become significantly more energy-efficient over time, contributing to large savings on the grid compared to hosting IT systems on individual customer premises.
“By aggregating with other large organisations and creating economies of scale in a data centre like CDC, there is an up to one third saving in the efficiency of electricity used alone, releasing more power into the grid” he says. “This is like moving from using private, single occupant fuel-filled cars to shared electrical buses as a means of transport. It reduces carbon emissions and frees up the roads as well.”
CDC was founded in 2007 by its visionary CEO Greg Boorer and today operates 14 data centres in Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland.
Kirker says their goal around water is just one aspect of its “vigorous approach to sustainability. Our New Zealand centres use 100 per cent renewable power and have been Toitū net carbon zero certified since their first year of operation. The Toitū certification is proof an organisation is positively contributing to the environment through measuring, reducing and offsetting its carbon footprint.
“Both the Silverdale and Hobsonville campuses are also certified Toitū enviromark diamond for their broader environmental credentials such as a zero-waste strategy,” he says.
Kirker says CDC has had good relationship with Schneider Electric which goes back to the beginning of CDC’s operations in 2007.
“We have co-innovated with them on a number of key systems such as Schneiders’ in-row cooling matched with CDC’s closed loop chilled water systems. Schneider are considered one of the world’s most sustainable corporations and equipment supplied by them ensures that materials across our entire supply chain are as environmentally friendly as possible. Schneider’s focus on lifecycle sustainability is important to us and our customers.”
Craparotta says Schneider’s relationship with CDC has a goal of ensuring sustainable, safe and reliable solutions for CDC customers. More than 75 per cent of the Schneider portfolio of solutions, including software, energy management and sustainability services, are represented in CDC centres.
“As an Impact Maker itself, Schneider’s purpose is to empower all to make the most of our energy and resources.”
