A proposed standard from ASHRAE addressing the unique energy requirements of data centers is open for advisory public review until Dec. 30.
ASHRAE Standard 90.4P, Energy Standard for Data Centers and Telecommunications Buildings, would feature a performance-based approach that is more flexible and accommodating of innovative changes, which occur frequently in data-center design, construction, and operation, committee chair Ron Jarnagin said.
“The explicit needs of data centers drive a fundamentally different approach to regulating minimum efficiency requirements for the electrical and mechanical systems that support the plug loads,” Jarnagin said. “By using an approach that requires compliance to a ‘system’ level of performance, designers and end-users can utilize various trade-offs in their optimization strategies depending on their company-specific business models.”
Standard 90.4P would utilize a performance compliance path developed by The Green Grid known as power-utilization efficiency (PUE).
While research for the development of mathematical methods and associated software tools has been proposed, compliance with Standard 90.4P is intended to be possible without the use of modeling tools.
Currently, data centers are included in ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1-2013, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings.
For more information, visit www.ashrae.org/publicreviews.