ABSTRACT
This chapter describes energy efficiency strategies and advanced technical concepts for Low-Ex climate control with the aim of increasing the return temperature and the temperature difference between the air/water inlet and outlet. Proposed concepts are currently applicable best practices and novel concepts, which can improve supply and distribution of cooling in Data Centres. A quantification of the energetic savings and estimated payback period is presented for each of the concepts which are as follows: free cooling; increasing the maximum allowable temperatures for IT equipment; hot or cold aisle containment; variable airflow; partial loads, component oversizing and using redundant components; and use of high energy efficiency components. The term “mechanical cooling” refers to cooling with chiller operation. Data Centres not only need electrical energy to run the IT equipment but also need a lot of energy for cooling, i.e. for removing the heat generated by the IT hardware.
