While others in an organization may spearhead data center energy efficiency efforts, Facilities Managers are one of the most common project champions (especially when an organization does not have a Sustainability Manager). The facilities department is responsible for maintaining a data center’s building and infrastructure as well as replacing equipment to ensure electrical power, air flow, and cooling needs. Facilities Managers also work to assure uptime and recoverability. Facility Managers are most likely to pay (or at least see) a data center’s energy bill. Therefore, they will likely be more receptive to energy efficiency improvements, particularly if they are expected to reducing operating costs (presuming the bill comes out of their budget). Energy efficiency efforts often have the added benefit of reducing the management burden of a data center (e.g. server rooms that lack standardization can result in inefficiencies and a higher management burden for IT and Facilities staff), which can make the job of facilities managers easier. Once physical infrastructure energy efficiency gains (e.g. hot and cold aisles) have been implemented in a data center, further improvements can require significant investment and diminishing returns. For this reason, facilities managers and operators may have an amplified incentive to turn to IT energy efficiency opportunities. With the needs of IT and operations converging, there are now more natural opportunities for collaboration between the two.
