The Green Grid Announces New Materials to Advance Data Center Sustainability and Productivity

PORTLAND, Ore., March 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- As the global IT industry's leading voice for advancing resource efficiency in the data center and business computing ecosystems, The Green Grid introduced new materials today at its annual Member Meeting and Forum. Data center, business and sustainability leaders from across the globe convened at the annual event to collaborate, network with peers and receive these new research papers, survey results and measurement tools. These tools will provide a roadmap towards increased resource efficiency and productivity in business computing.

"As The Green Grid celebrates its fifth year, we are proud to recognize the organization's accomplishments to further resource efficiency in the computing ecosystem and we look towards the future as we continue this progress," said Roger Tipley, Hewlett-Packard representative and Board Member, The Green Grid. "As we grow our global footprint, materials like those released today underscore our commitment to a global view of resource efficiency and to creating tools that data center and computing leaders can adopt and use to generate business benefits."

This year's Forum addressed the three pillars of resource efficient business computing: technology, business, and sustainability. By including all three aspects of this field, The Green Grid addresses the needs of operators and executives who are seeking ways to make their environments efficient and effective.

The Green Grid has released the following materials to guide decision makers on how to improve resource efficiency without sacrificing performance.

New materials released at Forum 2012:

• Server Power Management Course – This online instruction module will explain the challenges and opportunities of power management, discuss the various tools and features available, and explore current policies.
• Japan Case Studies White Paper –These case studies will 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 – Members can access a survey and analysis of ASHRAE's 2008 environmental guideline applications to serve as reference guide for data center best practice application.
• Energy Policy Research and Implications for Data Centers in EMEA – This research provides an in-depth look at how existing and emerging energy policies will affect the data center industry in EMEA, reviewing key internal, EU-wide and specific national sustainable energy policies. This report is free to members, and will be available to non-members for US$200.  
• Data Center Maturity Model (DCMM) Tool – An extension of the DCMM, this tool allows leaders to assess their data center and IT portfolio against the DCMM and benchmark progress against peers to achieve greater energy efficiency and sustainability. The DCMM integrates every aspect of the data center including power, cooling, compute, storage and network.
• Free Cooling Map Update – In May 2011, ASHRAE updated their data center temperature specification to include wider ranges for data centers, so The Green Grid responded by publishing updated maps based on class A2 and A3 Allowable ranges. These updated maps show that if operators can allow some higher temperatures inside their data center, they can operate with free cooling virtually anywhere in the world 90 to 100 percent of the time.

To further advance its mission, The Green Grid recently announced new membership opportunities for individuals to participate in and contribute to The Green Grid. By expanding its base of input and perspectives, The Green Grid is working towards creating the most effective metrics and research to progress data center sustainability. To learn about the benefits of membership or to become a member, please visit: http://www.thegreengrid.org/become-a-member.aspx

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 and individuals at the Individual level.

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

SOURCE The Green Grid