Energy consumption remains a hot topic across all business sectors and features high on the government agenda. Earlier this year the European Commission funded a project called Horizon 2020, which was established with the principle aim to promote greater efficiency in data centres and IT facilities. Initiatives like this, coupled with the continued rise in hardware density means that facility managers remain under growing pressure to not only achieve greater operational efficiency but also reduce capital expenditure.

Horizon2020 directly addresses the research released by The European Commission Joint Research Centre in February 2019, which stated that the ICT sectors generates up to 2% of global CO² emissions and predicted that the carbon footprint and energy demands of the industry are set to grow significantly in the coming years.

With this in mind, the responsibility to reduce both energy costs and carbon footprint, lies with us all. Facility managers are however, at the core and are ultimately accountable for sourcing the most appropriate and efficient equipment. The key to achieving overall site efficiency is understanding the performance of IT loads and managing the effective application of these. This extends from initial user hardware such as computers and phone systems, through to site applications; lighting, door entry systems and CCTV, production and plant equipment and emergency power systems.

Focusing on the latter, the successful deployment of modern UPS technologies can significantly contribute to lower energy expenditure. It goes without saying that modular UPS systems deliver the most flexibility and can achieve maximum efficiency. Modular UPS solutions offer a ‘scale as you grow’ approach, which means that they only need to operate for the current load requirements. Power demand is then reflected in UPS capacity as and when it is needed, without wasting initial capital, space and capacity overheads.

Modular UPS systems also provide a smaller footprint, easier manageability and greater availability throughout its operational life. The design of modular UPS systems, such as the Huawei UPS5000-E series and Legrand KeorMod and TriMod range, integrate hot swappable power, bypass, control and monitor modules, allowing them to be removed or replaced without disturbance to the load. This in turn can mean a more reliable and efficient power supply.

UPS redundancy can also be easily achieved with spare modules used in the same framework. A single UPS power frame accommodates multiple power modules and can be arranged in an N+1 redundancy configuration enabling a faulty module to be hot swapped without the need to power down the load or bypass the UPS and expose the load to unprotected input power. This approach minimises repair time and maximises power availability, with up to 99.999% (five nines) of availability being possible.

It is important not to overlook traditional static UPS systems, which often come with the misconception that they are grossly inefficient due to their makeup. This may be true for units over 10 years old but today’s static UPS systems such as those from Borri Spa boast impressive efficiencies of up to 98% and when deployed for the correct application, in the right environment, this efficiency level can be easily achieved.

For as long as energy consumption remains on government manifestos, facility managers will continue to be under pressure to source leaner systems and adopt more efficient processes. The greatest way to achieve this is to view IT infrastructure in its entirety and not in isolation. Businesses like Power Control Ltd have been working with facility managers for over 25 years to deliver best practice with the latest power protection technologies. Power Control looks at the complete power protection landscape, environmental factors and physical infrastructure and provides solutions that meet exact business needs not just now but in the future with a clear TCO outlook.

Power Control is a leading power protections solutions provider offering complete project management, a full portfolio of backup power systems and maintenance services including free site surveys. For more information please visit email info@powercontrol.co.uk