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News Room: News & Announcements |
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Google Green Energy Czar Provides Energy Measurement and Reduction Tips
Friday, February 26, 2010
By Linda Barney, Barney & Associates
On behalf of the Software Association of Oregon
Bill Weihl, the Green Energy Czar at Google, was the keynote speaker at the 2010 Software Association of Oregon (SAO) Member meeting held in Portland on February 24. Weihl leads Google’s efforts in energy efficiency, renewable energy and the company’s greenhouse-gas footprint. Weihl discussed Google’s PowerMeter, energy efficiency lessons learned in their data center, and offered tips on reducing energy usage in PCs.
The Power of Energy Information
According to Weihl, "Most people have remarkably little visibility into their energy usage. At the same time, studies show that giving people greater visibility can drive significant reductions in energy use.” Currently, electric bills show how much total energy is used but doesn’t help you figure out how to use less energy and disconnects paying for usage from how much energy is used. Weihl indicates that the Google motto is "If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it – Lord Kelvin.”
Google has developed Google PowerMeter, a software tool that provides consumers with near real-time access to their energy usage using open protocols for both data collection and data visualization. Privacy and security are important features of the PowerMeter. Google PowerMeter measures energy usage which is provided to utilities (with personal identification information removed).
"Google PowerMeter can display energy usage information on PCs, smart phones and other devices showing energy usage in 15 minute increments. The business model of the Google PowerMeter is to help people save energy – it is free to consumers and device makers. Google is partnering with companies in the U.S., Europe, Canada, device manufacturers, meter manufacturers as well as an ecosystem of integrators and providers on the device,” states Weihl.
Google Data Center Energy Reduction– Lessons Learned
Weihl indicates that when Google had data centers in rented co-location space, it was expensive and inefficient. Google made efficient energy use a major goal when they built the Google data center in The Dalles, Oregon. Google uses the PUE energy measurement (PUE = total energy / IT energy) and found that the typical data center PUE was 2.0. In their The Dalles data center, Google is using the best practices from HVAC, mechanical engineering and other disciplines to reduce energy usage. "In our data center, our PUE percentage has been cut to 1.2. We have been able to cut our energy usage with no exotic technologies. These same technologies could be used throughout the industry,” states Weihl.
Google found that mixing cold air and warm air in close proximity in a data center causes problems. Google recommends having a mix of hot aisles and cold aisles. Weihl reports, "Segregating the hot / cold aisles lets you raise the temperature in the data center. With these changes, you can reduce—or even eliminate using chillers.”
Lessons Learned on PC Energy Waste
Weihl states, "The typical PC wastes half the electricity it uses. Over 60% of corporate PCs are left on overnight and half of energy in a PC is wasted before it gets to the PC for use. A way to reduce PC energy usage is to enable power management on the PC. Using power management reduces energy used. Implementing power management suites can result in a positive ROI in less than 1 year.
”Google uses the recommendations of the Climate Savers Computing Initiative which encourages buying power-efficient laptops, PCs and servers as well as using lightweight devices such as a netbooks and smart phones.
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Linda Barney is the founder and owner of Barney and Associates, a technical / marketing writing, training and web design firm. Founded in 1990, Barney and Associates specializes in technical writing, documentation, online help, web content, and training. Barney and Associates also provides a wide range of marketing writing services including creating media articles, white papers, data sheets, solution briefs, case studies, web content and reviewer’s guides. Contact Linda at linda@barneyassoc.com.
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