Data centre wins sustainability award

The Melbourne Water Data Centre has been awarded the Victorian iAward for Sustainability and Green IT at the recent 2012 iAwards. The award, presented by the Minister for Innovation, Services and Small Business Louise Asher, recognises the innovative approach Melbourne Water has taken to limit the environmental impact of the data centre.

The Melbourne Water Data Centre.

The engineering consultancy Norman Disney & Young (NDY) was appointed by Melbourne Water as the lead consultant to deliver the design for the $7 million facility. It was designed using an indirect free cooling solution that aims to reduce overall energy consumption used for cooling and, according to NDY Senior Associate & Project Coordinator John Boatto, does not compromise on providing the required operating performance within the facility.

“Through the design development of the air-cooling solution utilising free cooling and rack air containment technologies, NDY have been able to deliver an approximate 40% reduction in energy consumption for the operation of the cooling system compared to the existing facility. This equates to a saving for Melbourne Water of over $40,000 or 600 tonnes of CO₂ per annum for the life of the facility and further savings will result as Melbourne Water’s IT system grows,” said Boatto.

“With Melbourne Water managing 157,000 ha of catchments in the Yarra Ranges and over 8400 km of rivers and creeks, they were keen to ensure the new data centre in Melbourne’s western suburbs is equipped to meet current demands but also has contingencies for expansion and future growth,” he added.

NDY worked with Melbourne Water to ensure the facility also incorporated increased reliability, maintainability, operational safety, use of under-utilised existing assets and planned expansion via adaptable services solutions.

NDY was appointed to provide a range of services including mechanical, electrical, fire, hydraulics and communications. As the lead consultant, the company also managed the delivery of the architectural, structural and civil services for the project.

“Such was our involvement in the design of this project that NDY was also appointed to design the communications infrastructure for the data centre and provided input to the IT infrastructure layout and planning,” said Boatto.

“The iAward for Sustainability and Green IT acknowledges a data centre that satisfies the sustainability requirements of Melbourne Water whilst delivering a world-class IT infrastructure with a significantly reduced environmental footprint,” he said.