A Green Data Center within the Context of Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania

Volker Hartkopf, Center for Building Performance and Diagnostics, Carnegie Mellon University

A green data center is currently being considered to be integrated in a former brown field redevelopment program. This green data center is to be part of a community-based energy supply and distribution system. The electric energy needed for the data center is to be generated by using biomass. The reject energy from cogeneration is to be used in cooling the data center and in return the reject heat from the cooling of the data center to be used in heating and cooling of residences, commercial buildings, and related facilities in the new neighborhood.

This presentation will be produced in collaboration with faculty in computer science, electrical and computer engineering, as well as mechanical engineering, architecture and urban design.

Major emphasis will be on:

• Advanced computer systems integration to enable close to 100 percent utilization while encouraging lower electricity demand.
• Systems integration opportunities related to electricity generation and reject heat utilization, including advanced biomass, geothermal (water reservoirs in abandoned coal mines below the site), as well as load sharing.
• The present state of knowledge of biomass, including recent and ongoing investigations of creating biomass on fabricated soil, utilizing mine tailings, as well as planting willows and poplars from cuttings, as studied by the Slippery Rock Water Coalition.

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