EDITOR ’ S QUESTION
GIANCARLO GIACOMELLO , DATA CENTRE TECHNICAL PROJECT MANAGER , ARUBA ENTERPRISE
t Aruba we ’ ve always
A placed a commitment to a sustainable future at the centre of our business vision ; in fact , we ’ ve been working on an agenda that has allowed us to gradually become an environmentally conscious organisation . This is owing to the usage of renewable energy , as well as investments in our own hydroelectric and photovoltaic systems , and the design and building of climate-neutral data centres .
To make a data centre sustainable , the potential impact of its energy consumption must be taken into account from the beginning of the design process , starting with the location selection to determine the availability of renewable energy sources to power the data centre and its associated activities . As an example , we have and are continuing to acquire hydroelectric plants in Italy to produce our own renewable energy . This significant contribution to self-generated energy means we have been able to minimise the environmental impact of our data centre network – currently we have an annual average output of 35 GWh with a total installed capacity of 8,554 KW . Our data centres also harness clean energy from the sun through photovoltaic panels installed on all usable surfaces of our buildings with the best exposure to the light . We have over 10,258 m 2 installed roof panels across our data centres , resulting in a total power of 2,310 KW . We also tap into geothermal resources in the subsoil to achieve a high level of efficiency with our cooling systems equipment . With temperatures remaining within the normal range , ground water is drawn from our wells ( that are currently being expanded ) and returned into the subsoil after the heat exchange process . In some of our data centre facilities , we go further by drawing in low temperatures from Dynamic Free Cooling , which allows us to save energy by using the outside air , filtered accordingly , to cool the server room . The hot air is expelled from the building by large fan units , with electric shutters opening and closing , as required .
As part of our strategy , we also began working with other European providers and agreed to a Self-Regulatory Initiative to make data centres in Europe climate neutral by 2030 . This is a historic commitment by the European cloud and data centre industry to proactively lead the way in the transition to a climate neutral economy . The CEOs of 26 companies around the world have also signed the European Green Digital Coalition . The aim is to invest in the development and deployment of sustainable , efficient digital services , develop tools to measure the impact of technology on the environment
AS PART OF OUR STRATEGY , WE ALSO BEGAN WORKING WITH OTHER EUROPEAN PROVIDERS AND AGREED TO A SELF- REGULATORY INITIATIVE TO MAKE DATA CENTRES IN EUROPE CLIMATE NEUTRAL BY 2030 .
and thus join forces for a ‘ green ’ Digital Transformation for the benefit of the environment , the community and the economy . www . intelligentdatacentres . com
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