Recognising the growing value of reducing energy consumption and maximising energy efficiency, Australian data centre provider NEXTDC selected a cooling solution from Vertiv, formerly Emerson Network Power, for its new facility in Melbourne.
By installing the Liebert EFC evaporative freecooling solution, NEXTDC’s M2 facility was able to lower energy consumption and achieve an Uptime Institute Tier IV Certification for a Constructed Facility.
A Tier IV Certification for a Constructed Facility signifies the highest level of availability, performance and resilience for a data centre, meaning it can operate under a wide array of conditions. With the help of Vertiv, the M2 is now one of the first data centres in Australia to meet the Uptime Institute tier IV status. The Vertiv solution also meets International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standards for maximum reliability and energy efficiency.
“Effective cooling is a vital part of meeting our critical standards,” said Simon Cooper, NEXTDC’s chief operating officer. “We embarked on a lengthy and thorough tender process to find the best partner to help us achieve optimal cooling across M2. After extensively reviewing all submissions, we realised Vertiv’s team and its Liebert EFC would fit our needs and the partnership was born.”
The Liebert EFC was selected because of its high capacity and low energy consumption. The solution uses minimal amount of cooling units to meet the highest levels of cooling, saving on both capital expenditure and maintenance costs. It also includes indirect air-to-air heat exchange and evaporative cooling technology, capable of reducing air temperatures by leveraging the evaporative cooling principle.
“The cooling solution uses iCOM Control to automatically and intelligently cascade units on or off to match capacity to the internal load of the data centre,” said James Miles, colocation, cloud and banking leader, Vertiv in Australia and New Zealand. “This means all assets are constantly monitored to ensure optimum efficiency. Cooling is balanced between water and air cooling to again provide effective cooling with minimal power usage.”
In addition, the Liebert EFC helped NEXTDC reduce installation time and cost with its prefabricated, modular design. With this solution, NEXTDC is targeting an annual average power usage effectiveness (PUE) of 1.28 for M2. “We achieved a 1.21 PUE during spring tests and with tuning we expect PUEs between 1.1 and 1.2. In winter we are targeting spot PUEs of 1.09 or better” stated Jeff Van Zetten, NEXTDC’s head of engineering and design. Vertiv engineering and service teams worked alongside NEXTDC and a number of design and construction teams to complete the project.
“We estimate data centres now account for almost four per cent of power usage in Australia,” said Robert Linsdell, managing director, Vertiv in Australia and New Zealand. “Any reductions you can make mean massive savings in terms of energy efficiency and cost, savings now more important than ever with the recent rise in electricity prices across Australia.