EUROPE need to heat the engines and that we create heat as a waste product . So we created a heat exchange , and figured out we could set the temperature as low as 45 degrees Celsius , which is 15 degrees cooler than the norm . That ’ s why we won the DCD award . Again , it ’ s something that had been talked about but nobody had done it . How did it feel to win ? Brilliant ! Because our peers recognise what we do as being quite special , and something that might have a big impact on data centres worldwide .”
“ Heating the machines uses the same amount of energy as approximately 300 households ,” Greyn adds , “ which is a huge amount , but it can be prevented . It ’ s good for the environment , good for our children , and for the preservation of the future .”
“ Plus the lifespan of this technology is between 16 and 20 years ,” says Vollmuller . “ The return on investment is around 24 months , so the finance guys are also happy .”
NL-DC has also been 100 percent CO2 neutral since 2011 , because it only uses a combination of wind energy from the North Sea , and biomass energy from the Golden Raand powerplant in the north of the Netherlands . They are both local powerplants , so the energy does not have to travel far , and this is what is called ‘ dark green energy ’. Of course , none of these achievements are enough for NL-DC , and the company is still striving to be better .
“ We want to take everything a step further ,” says Driessen , “ because a maximum of 10 percent of the total energy available used in the Netherlands is green . Our aim is to try and cut back on the use of energy as much as possible and have as little impact on the limited available green energy as possible all the while maintaining the high quality service we supply our customers with .”
While the company still considers itself to have a lot of work to do , Greyn proudly concludes : “ NL-DC may be the most sustainable data centre provider in the world .” www . nl-dc . com 127