One of the world’s largest computer software manufactures, IBM, is moving toward conserving and making its facilities more energy efficient.
In 2007, IBM announced plans to build an $86-million green data center that would add 80,000 square feet to its data center, according to The Environmental Leader. The initiative started as a result of consumers demanding a green center and from signing a huge financial agreement with a large account.
IBM has invented new green methods that are being put to use in its new green data center. Some of the highlights of the project are installing computing systems that make the energy usage more efficient and cooling systems that require less electricity to operate. Instead of the computer system running continually, the new system monitors the needs of data center and organizes the power supply for those computers that need the most energy and allows the others to run idle or sleep mode. Some cooling systems simply take the cold air from outside and pump it into the building. The construction of the building is designed to be as efficient as possible, reducing IBM’s overall carbon footprint by purchasing green energy, using sunlight for heating and the outside air for cooling.
Instead of building new data centers, IBM has taken some of its pre-existing centers and completely renovated them, saving 95% of the original structures. Twenty percent of the materials used to renovate the green data centers are from recycled resources such as old scrap metal, reusable wood and other recycled construction materials, reducing the carbon footprint by as much as 50%, according to The Register.
In even greater efforts, IBM is committed to using green electricity to power its green data centers, such as wind and solar energy. IBM is moving in the right direction and setting the standard for the rest of the digital world by using less electricity, using recycled materials and preserving the earth’s natural resources.
IBM’s $86-Million Green Data Center
One of the world’s largest computer software manufactures, IBM, is moving toward conserving and making its facilities more energy efficient.