New data center boasts green, super efficiency

San Francisco-based Advanced Data Centers (ADC) says its facility under construction in Sacramento, California, might be the greenest data center yet.

The McClellan Park data center, being built at the former McClellan US Air Force base, has already been pre-certified LEED Platinum by the US Green Building Council — a first in the data center industry, according to ADC.

Bob Seese, ADC’s chief data center architect, tells Greentech Media the McClellan Park facility will outperform Google in terms of energy efficiency. He says the new data center’s power use efficiency, or PUE, ratio will average 1.1; that’s the ratio of total energy that will be used to the amount of energy that will go strictly toward operating data center equipment.

Google says the PUE for its six large-scale data centers is 1.21, just slightly higher than the US Environmental Protection Agency’s standard for a “state-of-the-art” data center.

ADC’s wholesale data center, which will feature 11 private data center suites, last week was recognized by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District’s (SMUD) “Savings by Design” program. The recognition is expected to net ADC a utility cost discount that will total nearly $79.000 a year, as well as a possible $150,000 award — SMUD’s largest ever — if the company meets its efficiency goals.

“The projected energy savings will not only significantly reduce costs, but also will make a significant contribution to SMUD’s ambitious energy efficiency goals,” said Clifton Lewis, manager of SMUD programs and services.

ADC says it expects the first phase of construction to be completed in spring of this year. It has not yet publicly identified its potential customers.