The city of Ann Arbor, Mich., is finding success in its efforts to better monitor the cost of energy performance in the data center as a pathway to cut those costs and ultimately color the city “green.”

Measuring specific data center energy usage and costs is something 36 percent of enterprise companies recently surveyed by IDG Research Services tagged as “difficult.” But as Michigan’s seventh largest city succeeds in its efforts to first measure data center energy usage as a necessary first step to more effectively reduce that usage, others should follow.

For instance, the IDG Research survey found that, overall, enterprise-level IT directors clearly "get it" when it comes to the benefits of green computing and many say they’re moving swiftly in a variety of ways to become more cost-efficient and environmentally friendly.

The survey also found that 67 percent of enterprises with 1,000 employees or more report higher interest in green initiatives than a year ago. Major reasons to go green include the desire to reduce energy costs (64 percent), cost savings in general (60 percent) and the belief that “it’s the right thing to do” (57 percent).

Dan Rainey, CIO of the city of Ann Arbor, says the city’s IT department is consolidating its data center in cooperation with the greater Washtenaw County’s data center. The plan is to virtualize the environment and share some of the highest energy-consuming hardware, such as servers and storage networks.

In two years, that consolidated data center would be moved to a new, environmentally friendly addition in Ann Arbor City Hall. The new building is being designed to house separate electricity and gas meters specifically for the data center room.

“That way, we’ll know exactly how much energy we’re using for cooling, as well as to run the equipment,” Rainey says. “That will give us a target to manage down from.”

For now, Rainey said, he can only estimate how much power his data center is using. The IDG Research survey found that the majority of those enterprises characterizing energy-cost monitoring as critical or very important also don’t, or can’t, monitor data center performance, per watt.

The most popular steps enterprises are taking to achieve green computing goals, according to the IDG Research survey, include consolidating servers and systems (64 percent), using LCDs instead of CRTs (61 percent), recycling paper (61 percent), and implementing virtualization (60 percent).

Rainey said within the last year, his city IT department has replaced most desktops and laptops with equipment that meets the latest Energy Star and Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) specifications from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Ann Arbor’s IT department’s green steps are part of a citywide green initiative to achieve 20 percent green energy consumption for municipal operations by 2010, and then extend that to the entire city by 2015.

And that puts Ann Arbor ahead of the green IT curve, based on the IDG Research survey. But many others are also on a similar green trail. For instance, of the enterprises surveyed, 39 percent are using or pilot-testing green computing systems, 23 percent are planning to implement green in the next 12 months, and 22 percent are likely to implement green but won’t be ready for more than a year.

By then, Ann Arbor’s new green data center facility should be up and running. Good for Ann Arbor. Good for business. Good for the environment.

Tam Harbert is a freelance writer based in Washington, D.C.

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