The ability to dramatically reduce energy consumption is perhaps most critical in one of the largest consumers of energy in buildings today-the data center. The average data center consumes an enormous amount of energy and collectively they represent the fifth largest use of electricity in the US. While much of the focus today is on the servers themselves, this is only half the story. It is important to recognize that data center cooling systems, including air conditioners, fans, dehumidifiers, and pumps, typically represent about one-third to one-half of the electricity consumed by data center.

SmartMesh-enabled wireless sensor networks are uniquely able to be deployed in a data center without requiring any cable or conduit- an entire temperature, pressure and humidity sensing network can be deployed without a moments disruption to data center operations, and with no construction required. The ability to get better information about the thermal condition of the data center is critical to manage this environment, and allows IT managers to operate the data center at lower overall cost and higher availability than ever before.

For example, a SmartMesh-enabled sensing and control system, developed by Federspiel Controls, measures temperatures at critical locations throughout the data center, and can automatically adjust the amount of cold air produced by cooling units, directing that cold air to the proper locations through variable speed fans and remote vent controls.

Variable speed fans allow the cooling units to operate more efficiently, while advanced control software performs the optimization, provides for remote monitoring and alarming, and helps data center operators determine where there is spare capacity for adding new equipment. In this market, the benefits of wireless also delivers the level of flexibility most data centers need, namely the ability to frequently reconfigure server room layout, which is not possible with wired solutions. Additionally, running wire to the numerous control points of the HVAC system is not only expensive, but in many cases is simply impractical. Only solutions based on SmartMesh allow sensors to be placed in the right location to optimize energy performance and ensure reliability of the thermal environment while preserving flexibility required for IT equipment upgrades.

Adding an intelligent sensing system to the data center can reduce the energy consumption in an average data center by hundreds of thousands of kilowatt-hours annually, roughly $4 - 9 per square foot. With data centers expected to increase by 40 to 50 percent nationally in the next four years, the imperative to change is upon us.