Total Facility Energy = PUE
IT Equipment Energy

PUE is a measure of how efficiently a computer data center uses energy; specifically, how much energy is used by the computing equipment (in contrast to cooling and other overhead).

As a measure to reduce PUE and other cost areas, on 1 April 2010, the UK government’s CRC Energy Efficiency scheme came into force. Under the scheme, previously known as the Carbon Reduction Commitment, many of the UK’s largest organisations are obliged to publicly report their electricity consumption, and the largest consumers must take part in a carbon cap-and-trade scheme, buying and trading allowances for the carbon they produce.

The CRC scheme applies to any organisation that has “a total half-hourly electricity consumption over 6,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) once electricity used for transport and domestic accommodation has been excluded” and that had “at least one half-hourly electricity meter (HHM) settled on the half-hourly market” last year.

The scheme is expected to have significant repercussions for corporate IT departments, as the energy consumption of their data centres is now a matter of regulatory compliance. A tried and tested method of reducing energy consumption in data centres is through the introduction of Dataflex PVC Strip Curtains above the racks and at the aisle ends.

Rayflex’s Dataflex PVC strip curtains save energy on air conditioning by as much as 15% and up to 67% on fans, helping to protect mission critical operations and maximising air-flow dynamics by increasing the effectiveness of your hot aisle / cold aisle isolation.

But even as the scheme came into effect, there was confusion over how many organisations the CRC scheme applies to, and to what degree. A report suggested that the Government had underestimated 5 or 6 times how many organisations would be affected. This is just the latest controversy surrounding the scheme. Many in the IT industry question the wisdom of penalising high carbon producers, arguing that it punishes data centre services suppliers which, they claim, can reduce the overall carbon emissions by apply energy-efficient technologies within their facilities.

No matter how controversial the scheme the point remains that the Data Centers must reduce their energy consumption and associated carbon footprint, Dataflex PVC Strip curtains greatly assist and represent a low cost solution (they pay for themselves generally within 6-12 months of installation) to air flow management in Datacenters.