Title: Lifetime exergy consumption of enterprise servers

Authors: Christopher R. Hannemann, Van P. Carey, Amip J. Shah, Chandrakant D. Patel

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, 94720-1740, California, USA. ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, 94720-1740, California, USA. ' Sustainable IT Ecosystem Lab, Hewlett Packard Laboratories, 1501 Page Mill Road, MS 1183, Palo Alto, 94304-1126, California, USA. ' Sustainable IT Ecosystem Lab, Hewlett Packard Laboratories, 1501 Page Mill Road, MS 1183, Palo Alto, 94304-1126, California, USA

Abstract: Several studies have recently examined the environmental impact of enterprise computing in terms of server and cooling power consumption, but such an approach fails to capture the lifecycle impacts associated with raw material extraction, manufacturing, transportation and end-of-life. This paper details the development of a lifetime exergy consumption model that captures these impacts. Use of the model is demonstrated via case studies examining the effects of variance in transportation and cooling strategies. The results show the importance of taking a lifecycle view in evaluating sustainability of computer systems.

Keywords: lifetime exergy consumption; lifecycle assessment; servers; data centres; energy efficiency; green computing; environmental sustainability; sustainable development; enterprise computing; modelling; transportation strategies; cooling strategies.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEX.2010.033413

International Journal of Exergy, 2010 Vol.7 No.4, pp.439 - 453

Received: 11 Sep 2008
Accepted: 20 May 2009

Published online: 02 Jun 2010 *

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