Taking a Lighter Approach to Energy Savings Within the Data Center

On February 2, 2012, the United States Department of Energy launched its First Thursday Seminars of 2012, a series of online training opportunities focused on federal energy and environmental issues. The first event of the series, entitled “New Lighting Technologies,” covered a broad range of illuminating topics, including the uses and benefits of spectrally enhanced light (SEL).

What’s SEL you ask? Check out this slide from the online presentation to get a better idea of how the science works. 

In other words, the bluer our light, the better our sight.

In addition to the increased visual benefit of this emerging lighting technology, the presentation also outlines SEL’s ability to result in 20-30% energy savings when retrofitted into existing interior spaces such as offices and retail locations. See this before and after photo comparison from the presentation to get a better idea of how SEL enhances visual clarity within a given space.

Now, allow us to shed some light onto the potential benefits of SEL within the data center. Not only could a data center operator enjoy better visual acuity when performing routine maintenance on servers, switches and cabling, but imagine the potential cost savings of combining this energy-saving technology with something as luminescent as a row of CPI’s Glacier White F-Series TeraFrame® Cabinets.

In fact, it's a topic that Chatsworth Products, Inc. has long had an interest in, as outlined by Steven Bornfield, CPI’s Senior Data Center Consultant, in this popular CPI blog article from 2010. In it, Bornfield discusses how implementing white cabinets can not only reduce lighting costs, but how combining their visual appeal with a Vertical Exhaust Duct to isolate heat can potentially send your savings through the roof - literally! Jeff Cihocki, Global eContent Specialist