Data Center CFD Analysis to Save Money and Energy

Craig Giebel, AMEC Environment & Infrastructure

This presentation is a case study of a data center master plan developed by AMEC which focused on the use of CFD analysis to optimize the three existing data centers. The optimization of the data centers led to a reduction in energy usage which saved money on monthly energy charges and also reduced the need for capital expenditures for additional cooling equipment and back-up generators.

This presentation will also cover the proper layout of a typical data center that utilizes mechanical cooling, and present how CFD can be used to validate an existing or proposed layout. Some low cost or no cost opportunities to increase performance of existing equipment within an existing data center will also be presented.

In addition, some of the CFD results which led to the recommendations made to AMEC's client regarding cost avoidance or delaying of capital expenditures will be covered.

Biography:

Craig Giebel, CEM, CBCP, is the engineering and construction department lead for AMEC Environment & Infrastructure (E&I) in Minneapolis. Mr. Giebel has been involved in data center design since early in his career, his first design work being in the mid 1990's at the IBM campus in Rochester, Minnesota. During Craig's career he has performed HVAC retrofits of existing data centers, new designs, and construction of data center cooling systems. Craig specializes in HVAC engineering, mechanical construction, commissioning and energy engineering. His most recent data center experience utilized Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) analysis of existing data centers leading to optimization of the mechanical, electrical and IT infrastructure, which ultimately saved money and energy for his client.

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