NEWS
SAVING, ENERGY EFFICIENCY: Cloud&Heat’s trendsetting concept
D
ata servers as energy providers for heating and warm water – this innovative, highly efficient
concept is implemented by Cloud&Heat. As Cloud&Heat link server cabinets, which are distributed all over Germany, to a distributed network to offer cost-efficient cloud solutions throughout Germany, beneficiaries can be companies as well as private individuals, who do not need their own IT infrastructure.
The future belongs to the cloud: Cisco, the worldwide operating network provider, forecasts in its ”Global Cloud Index” that 86 percent of the computing and saving power will no longer be proceeded on local data servers but in the cloud by 2019. Not least since the Climate Change Conferences in Paris, the demands on energy efficiency and CO2 reduction increase at the same time. The Dresden based company Cloud&Heat, which was founded in 2011 by Professor Christof Fetzer and Dr. Jens Struckmeier, combines two mega trends in one innovative, awarded concept: by using the significant heat development of increasingly powerful data servers to heat buildings and by providing the server power for cloud solutions throughout Germany.
“We use direct liquid cooling of our servers, by which over 90 percent of the server’s waste heat is directly made available for the hot water circuit”, explains Nicolas Röhrs, Cloud&Heat’s Chief Executive Officer. The installation of the fire-proofed server cabinets costs customers less than a classical heating installation, the heating output is contractually guaranteed, and the maintenance work will be undertaken by Cloud&Heat staff. “In summer, the resulting waste heat will be dissipated to the outside or can be used for warm water treatment”, explains Nicolas Röhrs.
The result of the interaction of computing power and heating outcome is impressive as a sample calculation proves. By installing ten Cloud&Heat server cabinets, a company can save approximately 420,000 € a year: about 170,000 € heating costs as well as 250,000 €, which does not need to be spent for cooling the servers. That is an utmost positive outcome for the environment: It saves the climate about 3,100 tons of carbon dioxide. Also, real estate developers reap sustainable benefit from implementing the trendsetting system. According to the consulting company PwC, buildings, which
PLATE HEAT EXCHANGERS FOR COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
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hot water system using a plate heat exchanger (PHE) does not store hot water. The water is heated
instantaneously and only when required, so it is intrinsically energy efficient. A PHE consists of a pack of plates (usually stainless steel) to transfer heat from the primary fluid to the secondary fluid. The plates and gaskets are arranged to form alternating channels between the primary and secondary fluids. Arranged in this way the plates have an extremely large heat transfer surface area and therefore considerably high loads are achieved from a very compact plate heat exchanger. For large commercial applications a PHE is ideal as it is capable of producing hot water instantly and constantly at peak times. Calorifiers and direct-fired water heaters
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are less reliable and can empty of hot water should higher than normal demands occur. Plate heat exchangers are easy to maintain. An engineer can usually strip, clean and re-assemble a typical unit within an hour, and they are easy to keep clean. Because they are non-storage units, PHEs present no risk of contamination of the water with legionella microbes. The water is heated instantly on demand, and therefore the bacteria, which thrive in wet environments at temperatures between about 20 and 50 deg C, have no chance to breed.
For further information on Stokvis plate heat exchangers, call 020 8783 3050 or visit
www.stokvisboilers.com
are consequently constructed sustainably can generate 10 to 20 percent more revenue both in the commercial and private sector. There are also key advantages for data safety. This is because, in contrast to other providers hosting in the USA for instance, Cloud&Heat operates solely at locations in Germany. Data is always proceeded, encoded and secured at three locations. If one sever breaks down, others take over responsively with low latency times.
IT INFRASTRUCTURE, COST
For large commercial applications a PHE is ideal as it is capable of producing hot water instantly and constantly at peak times.
ENERGY MANAGER MAGAZINE • MARCH 2016
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