Cloud computing goes green in Finland, heat captured in underground data center

CNet news.com picked up a Reuters article on a Finland data center with waste heat recovery.

Underground data center to help heat Helsinki

Reuters

In the chill of a massive cave beneath an orthodox Christian cathedral in Helsinki, Finland, a city power firm is preparing what it thinks will be the greenest data center on the planet.

Excess heat from hundreds of computer servers to be located in the bedrock beneath Uspenski Cathedral, one of Helsinki's most popular tourist sites, will be captured and channeled into the district heating network, a system of water-heated pipes used to warm homes in the Finnish capital.

"It is perfectly feasible that a quite considerable proportion of the heating in the capital city could be produced from thermal energy generated by computer halls," said Juha Sipila, project manager at Helsingin Energia.

Uspenski Cathedral

Beneath Helsinki's Uspenski Cathedral a new data center is being built whose heat will help warm homes in the Finnish capital.

(Credit: Jrielaecher/Wikimedia Commons)

And there are other benefits for location.

The center's location in the bowels of the cathedral has an added bonus: security. It is taking over a former bomb shelter carved into the rock by the fire brigade in World War Two as a refuge for city officials from Russian air raids.

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Green IT Conferences for research community

Thanks to Jordi Torres, Barcelona Supercomputing Center for sending a link to http://www.greenit-conferences.org/.

New web page for Green Computing research community

A group of outstanding researchers has set up a simple new web page to make it easier for research community find updated information about the emerging conferences in Green Computing, the next wave in computing.

The www.greenIT-conferences.org site, includes a list of research conferences focused on green computing and energy-aware computer and network technologies. The site has been designed to make it easier for researchers for find information about new conferences (and conference tracks) in the area. Hopefully the page will serve to improve research in this important area.

The list comes from the following contributing companies.

Here is the current list from the website.  The first date under a conference is the deadline for papers, 2nd – notification, and 3rd – the event.

Conference
Acronym
WebSite
CFP
Venue
DeadLine
Notification
Event Dates
C/T

Intl. Symposium on Low Power Electronics and Design
ISLPED 2009
Link
File
San Francisco, California, USA
March 20, 2009
May 11, 2009
August 19-21, 2009
C*

Workshop on Power Aware Computing and Systems
HotPower'09
Link
File
Big Sky Resort, Big Sky, MT, USA
June 15, 2009
July 13, 2009
October 10, 2009
C

Intl. Conference on Performance Engineering
WOSP/SIPWE
Link
File
San Jose, California, USA
July 21, 2009
September 3, 2009
January 28-30, 2010
T

Energy Efficient Grids, Clouds and Clusters Workshop
E2GC2 2009
Link
File
Banff, Canada
July 23, 2009
August 6, 2009
October 13-15, 2009
C

Intl. Conference Advance Computing and Communication
ADCOM 2009
Link
File
Bangalore, India
August 21, 2009
October 26, 2009
December 14-18, 2009
T

International Parallel & Distributed Processing Symposium
IPDPS 2010
Link
File
Atlanta, Georgia, USA
September 21, 2009
December 7, 2009
April 19-23, 2010
T

Intl. Conf. on Measurement and Modeling of Intl. Computer Systems
SIGMETRICS 2010
Link
File
Columbia University, NY, USA
November 2, 2009
February 9, 2010
June 14-18, 2010
T

International Symposium on Cluster, Cloud and Grid Computing
CCGRID 2010
Link
File
Melbourne, Australia
November 2, 2009
December 18, 2009
May 17-20, 2010
T

Conference on Energy-Efficient Computing and Networking
e-Energy 2010
Link
File
University of Passau, Germany
November 8, 2009
December 21, 2009
April 13-15, 2010
C

International Symposium on Computer Architecture
ISCA 2010
Link
File
Saint-Malo, France
November 9, 2009
January 8, 2010
June 19-23, 2010
T

USENIX Workshop on Sustainable Information Technology
SustainIT'10
Link
File
San Jose, CA, USA
November 16, 2009
December 14, 2009
February 22, 2010
C

Workshop on High-Performance, Power-Aware Computing
HP-PAC 2010
Link
File
Atlanta, Georgia, USA
December 18, 2009
January 18, 2010
April 19, 2010
C

Intl. Conf. on Autonomic Computing and Communications
ICAC 2010
Link
File
Washington, DC, USA
January 11, 2010
March 8, 2010
June 7-11, 2010
T

International Conference on Supercomputing
ICS'10
Link
File
Epochal Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan
January 11, 2010
March 22, 2010
June 1-4, 2010
T

First ACM Symposium on Cloud Computing
SOCC 2010
Link
File
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
January 15, 2010
February 22, 2010
June 10-11, 2010
T

Journal IEEE Micro - Datacenter Computing
IEEE Micro DC
Link
File
(Journal, Special Issue)
February 15, 2010
March 12, 2010
July/August 2010
T

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Vendor information for NSA Utah Data Center

Salt Lake Tribune has an article on NSA’s data center in Utah.

The secretive NSA went public earlier this month with its plan to build the data center, which could consume as much power as every home in Salt Lake City. Its task: Processing information collected in an effort to prevent attacks on the nation's cyber networks.

Sens. Bob Bennett and Orrin Hatch, both Utah Republicans, hailed the center as key to protecting the nation's digital infrastructure.

mlaplante@sltrib.com

The Utah Data Center Industry days has passed.

image

But, you can find the information here if you didn’t make it to Industry day.

On November 17, 2009, the Rocky Mountain Region, Public Buildings Service, General Services Administration (GSA) will host an FBI Industry Day in Salt Lake City, Utah. The purpose of the Industry Day is twofold: First, it is intended to educate industry partners (i.e., private sector developers, contractors, architects, etc.) on new FBI program and construction requirements. Attendees will gain an understanding the GSA two-phase Source Selection bid process and how the FBI requirements should be met during the offer period. Second, it is GSA's further intention that a minimum of 60% of contract labor for the project must be Utah-based. The meeting will provide an open forum for developers and potential contractors to exchange information and form partnerships.

Pre-registration is not required. However, due to space limitations a maximum of three members from each firm may attend.  It is not a requirement to attend the Industry Day to participate in future project phases.  Registration on this Federal Business Oppotunities website (www.fbo.gov) is necessary to take advantage of networking opportunities.

Distribution of marketing materials is permitted among developers and potential vendors. Neither GSA nor FBI will accept any marketing materials, business cards, etc., from any source.

The Industry Day event will be held on November 17, 2009, in Salt Lake City, Utah, at the Marriott City Center located at 220 South State Street. The event will run from 8:00 to 11:00 AM, Mountain Time.

For further information please contact:

Shelley Smith
Contracting Officer
Mountain Plains Service Center
303-236-8000 X5302
Shelley.Smith@gsa.gov

Added: Nov 09, 2009 3:43 pm

The planned Industry Day is in direct support of the proposed construction of an FBI facility in Salt Lake City, Utah.  The information disseminated at the meeting will be a combination of general (i.e., applies to all current and future FBI projects) and very basic information related directly to the the Salt Lake City project. 
[Please note: As a matter of agency mission-related security, technical specifics will not be addressed during this meeting. Only development team offerors prequalified on the basis of the Phase I SFO will be given access to the technical information, detailed in the Phase II SFO.]
Appropriate meeting notes will be posted as an amendment to this notice after November 17.
It is not necessary to attend the Industry Day in order to receive the Phase I SFO for development team prequalification.  The Government's preferred method of distribution for the request for offers and the Phase I SFO, along with all necessary forms, will be a post to this Federal Business Opportunities website later this month.  Therefore, you must be registered on FedBizOps to receive an electronic notification and attached SFO.  Paper copies will also be made available.
For informational purposes an advance copy of the flyer to be distributed by the Government during the Industry Day is posted as an attachment to this notice.
Given the limited availability of space in the Marriott City Center a second session may be added at the discretion of the Government.  The first session will begin promptly at 8:00 AM.  If a second session presenting the same information is required it will commence promptly at 9:30 AM.

Added: Nov 24, 2009 5:51 pm

DUE TO SYSTEM LIMITATIONS, THE NUMBER 6UT0033B COULD NOT BE REUSED TO POST THE TEAM PREQUALIFICATION SFO.
PLEASE SEARCH UNDER 6UT0033BB FOR THE TEAM PREQUALIFICATION SFO POSTED NOVEMBER 24, 2009.

Please consult the list of document viewers if you cannot open a file.

Industry Day Flyer

Type:

Other (Draft RFPs/RFIs, Responses to Questions, etc..)

Posted Date:

November 9, 2009

Salt Lake City Publication.pdf (256.80 Kb)

Description: Industry Day Flyer

Slide presentations, bidder's lists, Q&A

Type:

Other (Draft RFPs/RFIs, Responses to Questions, etc..)

Posted Date:

November 23, 2009

Industry Day Presentation 8x11.pdf (7,015.80 Kb)

Description: Industry Day slide presentation

Industryday Sign In sheet.pdf (1,173.58 Kb)

Description: Industry Day attendee list

Industry Day Q.doc (25.50 Kb)

Description: Industry Day Q&A

Contracting Office Address:

Denver Federal Center, Building 41, Room 272
Denver, Colorado 80225

Place of Performance:

220 South State Street
Salt Lake City, Utah 84111
United States

Primary Point of Contact.:

Shelley Smith,

Contracting Officer

Shelley.Smith@gsa.gov

Phone: 303.236.8000 x5302

Fax: 303.236.1774

If you didn’t make it you can see who did attend here.

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SAP’s Green Commitment – building and software, strategic sale to Autodesk

The Philadelphia Inquirer has an article about SAP America’s new green building.

Tech company SAP is living the green life

By Diane Mastrull

Inquirer Staff Writer

SAP America is not in the building business. Yet lately, the major buzz about the provider of information-technology systems has centered on its new headquarters in Newtown Square.

Company officials are not offended.

SAP's four-story, 218,000-square-foot monument to energy efficiency and planet protection is turning out to be a credibility booster. And that was part of the plan.

The 35-year-old company is expanding its line of software products designed to help companies go green. Erecting an office that is one of the greenest in the region was intended to demonstrate SAP's commitment to "walk the talk," said Bill McDermott, president of global field operations.

SAP is going for Platinum LEED.

Since opening in May, the SAP headquarters has picked up awards from environmental, architecture, and construction groups. Whether it qualifies for the highest level of sustainability certification under the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED program - platinum - is not yet known.

Why is SAP going green?

In large part, the sustainability trend is fueled by practicality. Stricter environmental regulations on emissions of greenhouse gases, for instance, are expected for business, especially big industry.

The recession and escalating energy prices have been a prod, too - inspiring a worldwide corporate search for budget-trimming options, including switching to more energy-efficient lightbulbs and replacing face-to-face meetings with videoconferencing.

Public relations is also a driver, as shareholders and customers are paying more attention to the environmental effect of a company's pursuit of profits, said Brenda Hustis Gotanda, a partner at the Bala Cynwyd law firm of Manko, Gold, Katcher & Fox L.L.P. and a specialist in sustainability.

"How they are judged by the public" on sustainability is "a really big issue" to a growing number of companies, Gotanda said.

Autodesk is integrated in the story.

It all matters to Emma Stewart, even though she is 2,500 miles away in San Francisco. She is a sustainability leader at Autodesk Inc., a company that specializes in design software for the built environment, from bridges and data centers to airplanes and washing machines.

Her company wants not only to help its customers do their work in a more sustainable way, but to set an example of sustainability. SAP's commitment to those dual objectives helped convince her that it was a good fit for Autodesk, which is now using SAP's Carbon Impact, a system that helps companies determine their total carbon output.

In selecting a business partner, "I gauge not only what a company tells me [about its sustainability commitment]," Stewart said, "but what they're doing."

More and more there is strategic alliance between companies to help companies go green.  SAP and Autodesk are having discussions.

Who are your strategic green partners?

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Winning Data Center customers, being an entrepreneur – Digital Realty Trust leading LEED certification

I was having a discussion with a data center manager and made the point that what is interesting is whether people are being data center managers or data center entrepreneurs.  Good leaders know how to do both and when it is appropriate.

A well written paper on entrepreneurship is Saras D. Sarasvathy.

So, what makes entrepreneurs entrepreneurial?


Entrepreneurs are entrepreneurial, as differentiated from managerial or strategic, because they think effectually; they believe in a yet-to-be-made future that can substantially be shaped by human action; and they realize that to the extent that this human action can control the future, they need not expend energies trying to predict it. In fact, to the extent that the future is shaped by human action, it is not much use trying to predict it – it is much more useful to understand and work with the people who are engaged in the decisions and actions that bring it into existence.

An example of entrepreneurial is Digital Realty Trust’s efforts to have the highest LEED ratings for its portfolio of data centers. I’ve sat in many discussions where the cost benefit analysis is done for LEED points.  I would imagine the conversations at Digital Realty Trust are different when they say “We will be Platinum.  Figure out how to make it cost effective.”

DataCenterKnowledge and others are helping to market LEED buildings.

In Santa Clara, ‘Green’ Speeds Toward Platinum

November 24th, 2009 : Rich Miller

dlr-1201comstock

1201 Comstock is one of the Digital Realty data centers in Santa Clara, Calif. that has received a LEED Platinum certification.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – An unassuming industrial park near San Jose Airport is hardly where you’d expect to find some the greenest acres in the data center industry. The Santa Clara, Calif., campus operated by Digital Realty Trust is home to three data centers with a Platinum or Gold rating under the LEED standard for energy efficient buildings.

What is the value of the Platinum and Gold ratings? Well Digital Realty has some big brand companies in the space.

Digital Realty, the largest data center operator in the U.S., has used its Santa Clara operation to refine an energy efficient design using fresh-air cooling, which has made the site a magnet for some of the fastest-growing companies in the digital economy.

Facebook, Twitter and Yahoo all have their servers housed here. NVIDIA, which is seeking to harness its GPU technology to power cloud and high performance computing, has leased an entire data center here as well.

And, makes Gold LEED a me too statement, and the new news is about platinum.

Where LEED certification was once seen as a difficult hurdle for mission-critical sites, companies like Digital Realty are demonstrating the ability to build data centers to the very highest levels of the specification, and do so with remarkable speed. The two LEED Platinum facilities at the Santa Clara campus were completed in less than eight months, far less than the 18 to 24 months typically required for an enterprise data center project.

As DataCenterDynamics quotes.

“Achieving LEED platinum certification means that attention has been paid to every aspect of the building's design and construction, including the operating energy efficiency of the finished datacenter as well as often overlooked, key issues such as building materials, materials re-use and construction practices," DRT CTO Jim Smith said in a statement. DRT announced the achievement on Monday.

Digital Realty Trust is able to market its capabilities above the rest and first to market.  That’s being an entrepreneur.

I wonder how much interest there is now in Digital Realty’s POD data centers.

Digital Realty employs a Turn-Key Datacenter design offering customer data center pods available in units of 1.125 megawatts.

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