Saving Energy

One of the “coolest” things we do is save people money.  Here’s an example of how an energy reduction project resulted in a million dollars worth of cost savings.

DFW Consulting Group recently performed a load analysis on AT&T’s 80,000 square foot Internet Data Center.  We discovered that the facility appeared to have a particularly high overall load for the computer equipment operating load.  This triggered an investigation of the source of the apparently excess energy usage.

After reviewing the mechanical, electrical and controls systems in detail, we uncovered several main causes, namely, air handling units cooling the ceiling plenum, narrow dead band on the computer room air-conditioning units, and short cycling of the chillers. 

Upon our recommendation, AT&T authorized an engineering project to implement an energy reduction project to make the engineering modifications and revisions to the facility.

The project was completed in the fourth quarter of 2006.  The projected savings could reach up to $1 million per year.