Verizon
At a Glance
Industry
Telecommunications
Project Type
Commercial Energy Efficiency
Year
2013
Location
Basking Ridge, NJ
Summary
Li used diverse means of identifying key energy efficiency investments which lead to potential savings of more than $450,000.
Goals
At Verizon, Louis Li decided to identify tactical energy efficiency opportunities for greening data centers and propose a long-term sustainability strategy to drive data centers towards a low carbon future.
Solutions
Li recommended a package of tactical energy efficiency investments, including:
- A chiller that makes use of previously unused heat from fuel cells to provide free cooling
- Variable speed drives on cooling tower fans
- A non-hazardous chemical treatment for chillers to improve heat exchange efficiency
- An intelligent control system that optimizes performance of chillers, pumps and cooling towers (depending on cooling requirements and outdoor temperature)
By collaborating with Verizon’s IT team, Li helped weave green management practices into the company’s operations. The teamwork led to the development of a methodology for tracking energy consumption of individual software applications, which in turn can be managed to save energy consumption and costs. Li also suggested metrics that incorporate energy costs in IT investment and resources management decisions, impacting both the bottom line and the environment.
Potential Impact
Overall, Louis’ proposals could save 3.3 million kilowatt hours and 1,000 metric tons of carbon emissions annually, in addition to more than $450,000 in net operating costs. These measures could also augment the proven operational reliability for a data center that serves premium institutional clients.