Technology

Data Centers Get New Use: the Most Expensive Swimming Pool Heater

They are part of IBM's commitment to the environment

By Bogdan Botezatu, Hardware Editor

3rd of April 2008, 08:41 GMT

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The multi-million datacenter will heat up the public pool

IBM's environmental concerns have put data centers to an unconventional and extremely odd use. One of the recently unveiled data centers in Uitikon,

Switzerland, is used to heat a nearby swimming pool.

The data center has been announced yesterday and is the result of IBM's joint collaboration with GIB-Services. The highly-secure data storage facility is located in a former military bunker and will be used by GIB to "accommodate" its Swiss customers. The most interesting part is the center's energy model, that will capture the residual heat and re-use it to heat the water in Uitikon's public swimming pool.

According to IBM, the new data center is estimated to create about 2,800 megawatts of wasted heat per year if working at full load. The amount of residual heat would be enough to supply up to 80 houses with heating and warm water for a whole year, thus minimizing the spendings and the fossil fuel consumption.

"We found a partner for this unique project in IBM, a company that distinguishes itself through its vast experience in building high availability data centers with the highest demands on security," said Hans-Rudolf Sch�rer, president of the board of directors, GIB-Services. "Our decision to collaborate with IBM was easily made given IBM's data center expertise, innovation and commitment to green technology."

The two companies have signed the data center agreement back in 2007, but it was carried to completion earlier this year. IBM came up with the recycling idea in the first quarter of this year, but re-using the waste energy will start in the next few months.

"Theoretically it is possible to reuse up to 90 percent of the electric power required for the operation of the data center as heat energy," says Steve Sams, vice president of IBM Global Site and Facilities Services. "Through reclaiming the heat, approximately 130 tons of carbon emissions can be saved. This corresponds to the carbon dioxide discharge of mid-size cars driving 500,000 miles."

TAGS:

IBM | Datacenter | environment

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