Latest from Commercial HVAC
September Construction Employment Rose by 25K
When to Start Worrying About Your Backlog
US DOE to Present Awards for Rooftop HVAC Excellence
High Marks for School Efficiency
Financial Institutions Need Solutions to Protect Data: Trane Provides Them
Financial institutions handle critical data every day — data that requires specialized environments to ensure that information is processed without interruption. If a data center goes down for even 15 minutes, an organization could lose millions of dollars in information. Data centers have significant and specialized cooling needs in order to handle the heat loads associated with computational processes. Hot spots and inadequate cooling can cause costly disruptions and are daily concerns.
Reliable, efficient and capable heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems are critical to achieving optimal performance. Server density continues to increase to meet the demands of global organizations and their data storage requirements.
The Department of Energy estimates that cooling and humidification control accounts for 40 to 60% of a data center’s physical operating costs, making efficiency a primary concern. Financial institutions and data centers are growing and consolidating rapidly and depend on uninterrupted operations to move at the speed of the global economy.
Experts from Trane recently provided us with some examples of energy saving solutions they're providing to various customers within the financial world. These solutions are protecting data at a more affordable cost.
Systems like the Tracer XT help data centers manage risk. By combining building controls system with GE Intelligent Platforms Proficy Software platform, building operators can visualize, analyze, model, monitor and diagnose systems. These tools provide intelligence to manage data centers efficiently and productively, providing security and redundancy for organizations.
Increased Operational and Energy Efficiency
at Intesa Sanpaolo Data Center
Intesa Sanpaolo, one of the top banks in the Euro Zone, upgraded the infrastructure at its data center in Parma, Italy, to increase energy and operational efficiency. Recent energy savings improvements provide reliable, efficient and capable cooling critical to the data center environment. The upgrades also meet sustainability standards and are part of the Intesa Sanpaolo commitment to environmental stewardship and the journey to reach a high performance building outcome.
Trane experts started with a two-month study of the data center buildings, monitoring temperatures and chiller load. The audit revealed that cooling system operations was not optimized for efficiency, leading the chillers to operate at 50 percent load. Based on these results, bank leaders selected energy conservation measures that met their needs while improving energy efficiency and sustainability.
Upgrades included replacing two low-efficiency 400 kilowatt (kW) air-cooled chillers with one high-efficiency 1,000 kW water-cooled system. A Tracer Summit chiller plant management system was installed to control 7,500 kW of cooling production and distribution. The control system reduced the number of chillers required to efficiently operate the chiller plant.
Intesa Sanpaolo leaders also introduced an ongoing maintenance contract in addition to predictive and preventative services provided by an offering called Trane Care. The implemented maintenance and service programs help ensure that the energy-efficient and environmentally responsible systems keep running at optimum performance.
The improvements, completed in 2011, are expected to have a three-year payback period. The system upgrade also provides reliable, efficient and capable cooling critical to the data center environment. The improvements to the facility’s chilled water plant are expected to increase energy efficiency by 16%.
Financial Statement Services, Inc. Saves Money
with Energy Conservation Measures
Financial Statement Services, Inc. (FSSI), Santa Ana, CA, is a full-service print and mail leader specializing in the design, production and delivery of high-impact statements, letters, notices and other time-critical consumer communications. With the help of Trane, FSSI completed energy conservation measures (ECMs) expected to save nearly $72,000 a year at its 168,000 sq.ft. corporate headquarters.
Improvements were completed to increase energy and operational efficiency in a competitive industry, reduce operating costs, and maximize system reliability to maintain customer confidence. The upgrades also improved employee comfort and productivity.
Upgrades included replacing lighting throughout the building with high-efficiency fixtures. This significantly reduced energy consumption, while improving the working environment for FSSI employees and enhancing the company’s productivity. In one production area, for example, overall lighting was increased 38%, while energy demand fell 40%.
FSSI also implemented high-occupancy sensors in its warehouse that are activated only when forklifts are operating on a particular hallway. Other upgrades included enhancing control optimization on an existing high efficiency chilled water system to increase energy and operational efficiency.
The upgrades at FSSI include an evaluation of the potential benefits of intelligent building services. Using advanced technology and analytics, Trane Intelligent Services will continuously collect, interpret and act upon data compiled from building systems and other sources. If operating anomalies are detected, Trane automatically responds or recommends steps the company can take to keep the building operating efficiently and within the predetermined performance parameters.
Infrastructure Upgrades at TIAA-CREF Headquarters
Save Energy and Operating Costs
TIAA-CREF, based in Charlotte, NC, is one of the largest institutional real estate investors in the U.S. It has completed energy efficiency initiatives at its Manhattan headquarters that are anticipated to save $765,000 annually in energy and operating costs.
TIAA-CREF asked the energy services group at Trane to conduct an energy analysis of their headquarters. Based on the results, TIAA-CREF selected a chilled water system for ice production during off-peak hours and a 30-tank thermal storage system, which provides 6,000 ton hours of thermal storage. The system shifts peak cooling loads to off-peak periods by producing ice at night that provides cooling the next day during peak hours.
Leaders at TIAA-CREF also directed the addition of a two-megawatt emergency generator and a new heat rejection solution to provide enhanced redundancy for crucial areas like the building’s data center and trading floors.
High performance buildings help owners and occupants achieve their business missions by using design and operating standards that are created, measured and continually validated to obtain desired outcomes within specified tolerances.
