One Step Closer to Resource Efficient IT: The Green Grid Announces Agenda and Session Topics for Forum 2012

PORTLAND, Ore., Jan. 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Green Grid, the global IT industry's leading voice for advancing resource efficiency in data centers and business computing ecosystems, is pleased to announce the full event agenda and presentation topics for its Fifth Annual Green Grid Forum and Members Meeting, titled Moving to Resource Efficient IT: Achieving Greater Productivity and Environmental Sustainability. Its biggest event of the year, The Green Grid's Forum 2012 will address critical technology, business, and sustainability-related issues that today's business computing ecosystem must face.

Forum 2012, which occurs March 6-7 at the DoubleTree Hotel in San Jose, Calif., will take an in-depth look at industry trends affecting the future of resource efficient IT. The event will showcase emerging tools, metrics, best practices and case studies to help technical, sustainability and business decision makers understand how to improve resource efficiency without sacrificing performance. This year's event will seek to answer questions like, "How can data center efficiency impact my business, what is the environmental impact as my company increases IT resource efficiency, and how can I calculate my business' carbon and water usage?"

"In the past, The Green Grid's Technical Forum has been an opportunity to share the hard work and success of the industry over the past 12 months," said John Tuccillo, Schneider Electric representative and chairman of the board and president of The Green Grid. "This year, we've expanded the scope of the event to share not only accomplishments from a technical perspective, but to also focus on the business and sustainability issues related to resource efficient computing. We're thrilled to be able to gather such an expert group of presenters and panelists, and we think the topics that make up this year's agenda have much to offer to the industry."

Forum 2012 will feature keynote presentations from Bob Cashner, SVP of Corporate Properties at Wells Fargo Bank, Chandrakant D. Patel, an HP Senior Fellow and director of the Sustainable Ecosystems Research Group at HP Laboratories, and Aaron Davis, chief marketing officer at Schneider Electric. Along with the keynotes, Forum 2012 will feature many thought-provoking and exploratory sessions, including:

• Sparks Fly! The Real Story about HVDC and Data Centers

Interest in High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) power in data centers has fluctuated over the years, and with the Electric Power Research Institute's (EPRI) 2011 report, many end users want to know how ready the rest of the industry is for HVDC. In this session, members of the system and facilities vendor community, researchers, and end users will examine the state of the art in HVDC and pitfalls of AC and DC power systems in the data center.

• Member Company Case Study: Breaking New Ground on Data Center Efficiency

The Green Grid will present a session to showcase a member company's new, state-of-the-art data center, which breaks new ground on data center efficiency. Using an approach driven by metrics, and guided by The Green Grid's Data Center Maturity Model, the company built a highly efficient data center using free cooling in the desert southwestern U.S.

• The Business Value of Resource Efficiency for PUE and Beyond

Many companies have extended resource efficiency innovation beyond PUE measurements. In this session, panelists who have helped shape innovation around data center efficiency will discuss specific steps taken by their organizations and how those results have contributed to bottom-line results.

For a sneak peek into several other key topics and sessions at The Green Grid Forum 2012, visit the event page and click on the Forum Sneak Peek Videos. More videos will be added going forward so be sure to check back for updates.

New Work Items from The Green Grid

Along with the event agenda, The Green Grid also announced that several new work items will be available at Forum 2012. In addition, several other new items will be discussed in sessions and presentations during the event. The materials include:

• Server Power Management eLearning Module – This module serves to educate participants on the challenges and opportunities of power management, discuss the various tools and features available, and explore current policies.
• IT Recycling Metric White Paper – Information on a new metric will be released which aims to increase industry awareness around the responsible disposition of IT assets.
• Japan Case Studies White Paper – Case studies will be unveiled to educate data centers managers on how to improve energy efficiency considering recent occurrences in Japan, including geography and the impact of natural disasters, low regulation, culture and standards of operating management.
• Survey Results: Implementation of ASHRAE 2008 Environmental Guidelines in Japan – A survey and analysis of ASHRAE's 2008 environmental guideline applications will be released as a reference guide for data center best practice application.
• Energy Policy Research and Implications for Data Centers in EMEA – Existing and emerging energy policies affecting the data center industry in EMEA will be discussed, reviewing key internal, EU-wide and specific national sustainable energy policies.

Early Bird Registration

Forum 2012 registration is open and members and non-members can register now to take advantage of the Early Bird Discount, which is being offered through February 3, 2012 at 10 percent off the regular price. For more information or to register, please visit: http://www.regonline.com/thegreengridforum2012memberregistration.

You can also find information about Forum 2012 on LinkedIn (http://linkd.in/roI3cu), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Green-Grid/112345132111805) or join the conversation on Twitter by using the hashtag #TGGForum12.

About The Green Grid:

The Green Grid is a global consortium of companies, government agencies and educational institutions dedicated to advancing resource efficiency in data centers and business computing ecosystems.

The Green Grid does not endorse vendor-specific products or solutions, and instead seeks to provide industry-wide recommendations on best practices, metrics and technologies that will improve overall data center resource efficiencies. Membership is open to organizations interested in data center operational efficiency at the Contributor, General or Associate member level.

Additional information is available at www.thegreengrid.org and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/TheGreenGrid.

Brad Baker
Weber Shandwick
617-520-7043
[email protected]

SOURCE The Green Grid