ASHRAE TC9.9 data center committee: What's on tap |
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By Mark Fontecchio, News Writer
06 Oct 2008 | SearchDataCenter.com |
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When it comes to data center infrastructure and, in particular, power and cooling, data center managers increasingly turn to the American Society for Heating, Refrigerating and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), whose Technical Committee 9.9 (TC9.9) is widely regarded as a key destination for information and best practices on the topic.
TC9.9 recently elected a new chairman who oversees data and telecom centers. Fred Stack is a vice president at the leading data center cooling vendor Liebert, which is part of Emerson Network Power, and takes over as chairman for Roger Schmidt from IBM. We recently spoke with Stack about what's going on at ASHRAE TC9.9.
Which books does ASHRAE TC9.9 have in the works?
Fred Stack: There is one on contamination that is moving forward right now. We will probably end up voting it out of committee at our meeting in January. There is another on measurements: How do you actually measure things in the data center, what kinds of instrumentation exists? Then there is a third that is like a book on the ultraefficient data center. It will be a case-study type book, looking at those that are really pushing the envelope on data center efficiency.
What's on tap at your next annual meeting in January?
Stack: We have two transaction sessions, with three papers in each. The first one is focused on liquid cooling, and another on high-density airflow. There will also be four seminar sessions. Two will be on airflow management and focused on airflow internal to IT racks. Another will be on sustainable guidelines, and another will be an update on everything going on in the industry, from our committee to updates from LEED and other various activities that have gone on over a period of time.
ASHRAE and TC9.9 have become go-to resources on data center facilities and best practices. How did that happen?
Stack: When we were formed as a committee, we wanted to be recognized among all areas of the data industry. Unlike many ASHRAE committees, we meet every month. We are probably the most prolific committee within ASHRAE. We do more symposiums, technical papers and transaction papers of any committee that ASHRAE has. Our mission statement has tried to educate the marketplace on what the best practices are.
How is TC9.9 different now from when it started, and how will it evolve?
Stack: I don't envision it as being as strongly prolific as it has been. There are a lot of books that have been published that need to be refreshed periodically. We plan to put a heavier focus on the communication of the information that we have; they're not as well disseminated as we would like them to be.
We are also trying to team up with other organizations such as the Green Grid, and we're looking to expand out and touch organizations in other parts of the world: Australia, China, perhaps Europe.
Let us know what you think about the story; email Mark Fontecchio, News Writer. You can also check out our Server Specs blog.
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