SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Digital Realty
Trust, Inc. (NYSE: DLR), Vigilent® Corporation, and
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory today announced the results
of a joint study focused on improving the energy efficiency of a
data center designed, owned and operated by Digital Realty.
The facility used for this initiative was Digital Realty's
135,000 square foot data center located in El Segundo, California. Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory monitored the overall effort, creating
the baseline and result metrics, and acted as project manager for
the energy efficiency grant awarded by the California Energy
Commission's PIER Program. The results of this project were
presented at the Silicon Valley Leadership's Data Center Summit
hosted by AMD on October 24,
2012.
The project focused on replacing constant speed scroll fans with
electronically commutated motor (ECM) variable speed fans of a more
efficient design and deploying the Vigilent Intelligent Energy
Management™ system to control fan speeds and computer room air
handler (CRAH) output. The full report – "Demonstration of
Intelligent Control and Fan Improvements in Computer Room Air
Handlers" - is available on Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's
website (http://hightech.lbl.gov/datacenter-wireless-control/).
"The goal of the study was to assess whether the fan speed
control system was a viable solution for commercial data centers,"
said Jim Smith, Chief Technology
Officer at Digital Realty. "We found that upgrading fans and adding
fan speed controls in our data centers allow us to cool them more
effectively and efficiently. In addition, the facility's electrical
energy usage was reduced, as was the average and peak electric
power demand, resulting in a more energy efficient and sustainable
data center environment."
Key Findings
Deployment of Vigilent's sophisticated software system combined
with changes to the data center operations resulted in a 66% drop
in cooling energy usage at Digital Realty's El Segundo facility, freeing stranded capacity
while simultaneously expanding reserve cooling capacity. In
addition, the software provided visibility into data center thermal
conditions, which led to additional energy savings as well as a
significantly improved temperature distribution. Furthermore, the
El Segundo facility's PUE (power
usage effectiveness) was improved by 8% to 1.46; 2.9 million
kilowatt hours will be saved annually; and greenhouse gas emissions
of carbon dioxide will be reduced by 1.9 million pounds per
year as a result of the software and data center improvements.
"Gaining capacity from existing equipment is a competitive
advantage for data center owners and operators," said Christopher Kryzan, Vice President of Marketing
at Vigilent. "The ability, at any moment, to see exactly how much
capacity you have in reserve along with the ability to instantly
deploy it, allows for a flexible, resilient data center and
optimizes the use of valuable resources."
Repeatable, Scalable Model
"Operational efficiency and thermal performance benefits are
immediately available with existing technologies," said
Bill Tschudi, a program manager at
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. "We believe the energy
savings achieved through infrastructure improvements combined with
a powerful monitoring and control system is a repeatable, scalable
model for data centers everywhere, and the kind of improvement we
are encouraging the industry to attain."
About Digital Realty
Digital Realty Trust, Inc. focuses on delivering customer driven
data center solutions by providing secure, reliable and cost
effective facilities that meet each customer's unique data center
needs. Digital Realty's customers include domestic and
international companies across multiple industry verticals ranging
from information technology and Internet enterprises, to
manufacturing and financial services. Digital Realty's 110
properties, excluding three properties held as investments in
unconsolidated joint ventures, comprise approximately 21.2 million
square feet as of October 26, 2012,
including 2.2 million square feet of space held for redevelopment.
Digital Realty's portfolio is located in 32 markets throughout
Europe, North America, Asia and Australia. Additional information about
Digital Realty is included in the Company Overview, which is
available on the Investors page of Digital Realty's website at
http://www.digitalrealty.com.
About Vigilent® Corporation
Vigilent® Corporation (vigilent.com) is the leader in
intelligent energy management systems, an essential solution for
data center infrastructure management (DCIM). The company applies
advanced Intelligent Analytics™ technology to address the real-time
energy demands of data centers, colocation providers,
telecommunications facilities, and large buildings. Vigilent
protects uptime through dynamic management of cooling resources,
while delivering significant, immediate reductions in cooling
energy costs and carbon emissions through automated 24/7 monitoring
and control of mission-critical facilities. A privately-held
firm located in San Francisco's
East Bay, Vigilent is committed to green energy solutions that
reduce and inform energy use, making for a more sustainable
planet.
About Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) is a member
of the national laboratory system supported by the U.S. Department
of Energy through its Office of Science. It is managed by the
University of California (UC) and is
charged with conducting unclassified research across a wide range
of scientific disciplines. Located on a 200-acre site in the hills
above the UC Berkeley campus that offers spectacular views of the
San Francisco Bay, Berkeley Lab employs approximately 4,200
scientists, engineers, support staff and students.
Berkeley Lab's extensive research and demonstrations related to
data center energy efficiency is supported by numerous public
interest programs including DOE, the California Energy Commission,
NYSERDA, and others. Berkeley Lab supports the Silicon Valley
Leadership Group's annual data center summit where the project
described herein was presented.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements which are
based on Digital Realty Trust, Inc.'s current expectations,
forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties that
could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially,
including statements related to the joint study on improving energy
efficiency, expectations based on the results of the study, and
estimated improvements in PUE and estimated savings in kilowatt
hours and greenhouse gas emissions at Digital Realty's El Segundo facility. These risks and
uncertainties include, among others, the following: the impact of
the recent deterioration in global economic, credit and market
conditions, including the downgrade of the U.S. government's credit
rating; current local economic conditions in its geographic
markets; decreases in information technology spending, including as
a result of economic slowdowns or recession; adverse economic or
real estate developments in its industry or the industry sectors
that it sells to (including risks relating to decreasing real
estate valuations and impairment charges); its dependence upon
significant tenants; bankruptcy or insolvency of a major tenant or
a significant number of smaller tenants; defaults on or non-renewal
of leases by tenants; its failure to obtain necessary debt and
equity financing; increased interest rates and operating costs;
risks associated with using debt to fund its business activities,
including re-financing and interest rate risks, its failure to
repay debt when due, adverse changes in its credit ratings or its
breach of covenants or other terms contained in its loan facilities
and agreements; financial market fluctuations; changes in foreign
currency exchange rates; its inability to manage its growth
effectively; difficulty acquiring or operating properties in
foreign jurisdictions; its failure to successfully integrate and
operate acquired or redeveloped properties or businesses; risks
related to joint venture investments, including as a result of its
lack of control of such investments; delays or unexpected costs in
development or redevelopment of properties; decreased rental rates
or increased vacancy rates; increased competition or available
supply of data center space; its inability to successfully develop
and lease new properties and space held for redevelopment;
difficulties in identifying properties to acquire and completing
acquisitions; its inability to acquire off-market properties; its
inability to comply with the rules and regulations applicable to
reporting companies; its failure to maintain its status as a REIT;
possible adverse changes to tax laws; restrictions on its ability
to engage in certain business activities; environmental
uncertainties and risks related to natural disasters; losses in
excess of its insurance coverage; changes in foreign laws and
regulations, including those related to taxation and real estate
ownership and operation; and changes in local, state and federal
regulatory requirements, including changes in real estate and
zoning laws and increases in real property tax rates. For a
further list and description of such risks and uncertainties, see
the reports and other filings by Digital Realty Trust, Inc. with
the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including Digital
Realty Trust, Inc.'s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2011 and Quarterly
Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2012, June 30,
2012 and September 30,
2012. Digital Realty Trust, Inc. disclaims any intention or
obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements,
whether as a result of new information, future events or
otherwise.
For
Additional Information:
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A. William
Stein
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Pamela M.
Garibaldi
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Chief
Financial Officer and
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Vice
President, Investor Relations and
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Chief
Investment Officer
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Corporate
Marketing
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Digital
Realty Trust, Inc.
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Digital
Realty Trust, Inc.
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+1 (415)
738-6500
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+1 (415)
738-6500
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Pam
Crowley
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William
Tschudi
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Vigilent® Corporation
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Program
Manager
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+1 (408)
529-9655
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Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory
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pcrowley@vigilent.com
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+1 (510)
495-2417
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SOURCE Digital Realty Trust, Inc.