Bluestone Energy was recently featured in an article titled “Energy Upgrades Bring Cool Savings”. From the article:
Some companies may be unaware of the opportunity. Hallahan says United Electric Controls was only vaguely aware of the NStar program until Bluestone approached the company with an upgrade proposal. “You may have heard about such rebates in general, but not what they are specifically, how to get them, or how much money you can get,” he says. “It’s not that well publicized.”
Utilities are required to communicate to customers the existence of such programs, but they may opt to do so more loudly now, given the funding increases. In exchange for spending a certain percentage of available funds annually, they can take a portion of the kitty as profit.
Meanwhile, data centers provide particular opportunities for energy savings, says Fairbanks. Most such areas, except those built recently, have raised floors, with space underneath into which air conditioners pump cool air. The air rises out of holes in tiles strategically placed under servers, but some of it floats away. That interferes with the efficiency of the air conditioners, which do not operate optimally unless incoming air is a certain amount hotter than the cooled air they’re sending under the floor. In that case, more air conditioners must be used.
Bluestone puts in so-called cold-aisle containment walls to keep cool air where it’s intended to go. Another technique is to install variable-speed fans under the floor that respond to temperature sensors on the server racks, thus providing precisely the amount of cool air required for a particular space.
Read the full article here at CFO Magazine.
