With the U.S. government providing $10.8 billion in stimulus funds to reduce energy use in federal, state and local buildings, computing data centers are suddenly front and center. GE has already started tackling the issue by revolutionizing the way data centers function.


Green acres: In addition to the customer opportunities presented by the U.S. stimulus package, states such as California already have incentives in place now to reduce energy use and improve energy efficiency. And internationally, Japan and Canada have implemented stimulus plans around building improvements with a focus on data centers.

For most people, a data center is simply that sealed, well-air-conditioned room that only members of the IT team ever enter or leave. However, those walls house the workhorse computers that manage the flow of everything from website servers and information storage to temperature controls. These centers draw massive amounts of energy, consuming some 1.5-percent of the annual electrical output of the United States — and they’re expected to increase their demand by double digits in the coming years. In 2005, U.S. companies’ electric bills topped out at $2.7 billion — with the worldwide total reaching $7 billion, according to eweek.com, a high-tech news service.

To meet this challenge, engineers at GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms have developed an energy efficient solution to help reduce data centers’ cost and carbon footprint. Utilizing nearly 30 products from nine different GE businesses, including power quality, chilled water, electrical, security and IT services equipment, the solution will provide 10-20% in annual facility power savings and 20-40% reduced water consumption.

GE has begun implementing this fusion of technology at our Ohio-based data center. The center includes more than 3,800 IT systems and consumes 24 million kWh of power each year. The first phase will be complete in the first half of 2009. The planned rollout will continue with implementations in other major GE data centers in Georgia, Connecticut and Budapest.

“By combining cutting-edge products and technologies with an expertise in Building Management Systems, GE provides customers the solid foundation for any high technology infrastructure,” said Greg Simpson, Chief Technology Officer, GE.


* Learn about GE’s new product that increases data center efficiency
* Learn more about GE’s data center efficiency efforts
* Listen to a podcast about GE’s data center work
* Read “Server in the sky” in the Financial Times

See what the tech sites are saying about GE’s efforts:
* GreenTech Media
* Web Host Industry Review
* Earth2Tech