Tor Kyaagba, an electrical engineer in ESD's Mission Critical Facilities Practice, co-presented a Consulting-Specifying Engineer (CSE) hosted webcast on data center electrical efficiency strategies. The webcast took place on Thursday, May 14, 2015.
Whether you missed the webcast or are interested in additional information, Tor and co-presenter Bob Schuerger (HP) answer additional questions on the topic, available here.
Summary of the Webcast
Designing efficient data centers is a high priority for consulting engineers. From business operations and continuity to the growing use of cloud services to the Internet of Things, increased Internet demand is putting a strain on server capacity and energy use. New cloud-based data centers can mean higher densities and high load factors as well as a higher demand for reliability, which increases the importance of electrical system loading to achieve optimum efficiency. Engineers must balance power usage effectiveness (PUE) and electrical efficiency with reliability when designing data center electrical systems. 
Electrical engineers may consider electrical meters, automatic and static transfer switches, uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems, and powering IT equipment directly from utility power when determining and managing the amount of power used at various locations throughout the data center. Commissioning of a sustainable data center that is designed for U.S. Green Building Council LEED certification requires additional documentation and performance benchmarks.