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9: Green IT Case Studies for Energy Utilities 149

http://hightech.lbl.gov/documents/DATA_CENTERS/06_DataCenters-
PGE.pdf
The topics covered in the white paper include Air Management, Air-Side
Economizer, Centralized Air Handling, Cooling Plant Optimization, Direct
Liquid Cooling, Free Cooling via Water Side Economizer, Humidification
Controls Alternatives, Power Supplies, Self Generation, and Uninterruptible
Power Supply Systems.
According to Brad Whitcomb, vice president, customer products and
services at PG&E, “Energy efficiency is the number-one priority for PG&E as
we work with our customers to meet our environmental goals. We have a
goal of having 20% of our energy come from renewable sources by 2010.”
PG&E worked with various IT technology consultants on its server consoli-
dation plan to lower energy consumption in its 40,000-square foot data cen-
ters in San Francisco, Fairfield, and Diablo Canyon, California, through
virtualization.
As previously mentioned in Chapter 3, before embarking on its server con-
solidation plan, PG&E teamed with IBM Research to develop a tool to measure
the three-dimensional temperature distributions in its data centers. IBM used
ptg
its new Mobile Measurement Technology (MMT) to survey the relevant physi-
cal parameters of PG&E data centers and visualize via 3-D images hot spots, air
leakage, and other inefficiencies. The data were then used to build customized
thermal and energy models to help mitigate hot spots and rectify imbalances
within the data center.
IBM’s mobile measurement machine includes a position monitoring sys-
tem with a network of up to 100 sensors that gather thermal data. A 10,000-
square foot data center can be completely surveyed by the machine within a
few hours. It would take several weeks for several people to survey the data
center manually. Wireless thermal sensor technologies can also be deployed
to measure long-term, transient temperature effects in the data center.

PG&E Energy-Efficiency Programs

Several IT vendors have participated in PG&E’s Energy-Efficiency
Incentive program. Select IT vendor systems from recent product lines are
eligible for PG&E’s incentive program for server replacement projects. These
models exceed efficiency benchmarks established by PG&E for web serving
and Java™ workloads. The program is strictly limited to replacement proj-
ects, and IT vendors are partnering with PG&E to extend the program for