Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recognized Iron Mountain Data Centers for its commitment to energy efficiency through DOE’s Better Buildings Challenge. Since joining the program in 2016, Iron Mountain met its first energy-savings goal of 20% and has now set a new goal of improving data center power usage efficiency (PUE) by 30% over a five-year period across three data centers — or nearly 600,000 square feet of built space.
Iron Mountain’s data centers operate on 100% renewable energy, and the organization achieved the first simultaneous, enterprise-wide ISO 50001 Energy Management and ISO 14001 Environmental Management certifications in the industry. Iron Mountain has also joined the Better Buildings Waste Reduction Pilot as the company works to increase its landfill diversion and begin implementing net-zero waste strategies.
As a Better Buildings partner, Iron Mountain offered to share its best practices through a virtual tour of the cutting-edge energy efficiency technologies at its data centers. Iron Mountain’s Western Pennsylvania data center is a Better Buildings Showcase Project that achieves 34% annual energy savings and uses a geothermal cooling system. Located 200 feet underground in a former limestone mine, the facility harnesses a 35-acre underground water reservoir for cooling, which allows for unlimited runtime of cool water and reduces energy consumption. Simple variable flow pump design provides increased reliability. The site also employs several air-management solutions and works with customers on in-rack best practices to improve energy efficiency.
At its Manassas, VA, data center, Iron Mountain has implemented artificial intelligence software to assess all building control systems and identify opportunities for energy savings. Air management is a key feature here as well, involving blanking panels, cold/hot aisle containment, floor blanking, perforated tile air direction, and custom ducting.
The organization’s Kansas City data center employs similar air-management best practices, as well as efficient LED lighting throughout the site. Building system fan speeds are fine-tuned to reduce energy consumption as data hall temperatures are carefully raised.
Through the Better Buildings Initiative, DOE partners with public and private sector organizations to make commercial, public, industrial, and residential buildings more efficient, thereby saving energy and money while creating thousands of jobs. To date, more than 950 Better Buildings Partners have shared their innovative approaches and strategies for adopting energy efficient technologies. Discover more than 2,800 of these solutions in the Better Buildings Solution Center.
Featured image: screen capture from video, via Virtual Partner site visit: Iron Mountain Data Centers
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