Bryant U Data Center Cuts Energy Use by 15 Percent

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 12/09/10

A "smarter building" initiative is helping Bryant University in Smithfield, RI reduce its data center energy consumption by 15 percent. The project, which uses technology from both IBM and Schneider Electric, helps monitor and control building systems, including heating, ventilation, air conditioning, humidity, lighting, access control, video, and physical security.

As part of a joint effort to introduce smarter resource consumption into building management the two companies are showing customers how to integrate their respective offerings, including Schneider's Andover Continuum, a climate and security system, and IBM's Green Sigma analytics, Tivoli Monitoring for Energy Management, Business Services Manager, and Maximo Asset Management for Energy Optimization.

In 2007 Bryant introduced a new energy-efficient data center that grew out of collaboration between the university's IT and facilities teams. The latest work focuses on pulling together disparate data from multiple building systems to bring visibility to energy consumption. Now those involved indicated they hope to apply the same technology and lessons learned to the other 50 buildings on campus.

"Having the ability to look across both IT and facilities is operationally, tactically, and strategically important to the university," said CIO, Art Gloster. "The maturity of our converged campus network combined with energy management from IBM and Schneider Electric allows our IT and facilities teams to work together to monitor energy consumption and reduce operational costs."

Added Chris Davis, vice president at Schneider, "Energy is the largest controllable operating expense in a building, and companies need to address it more systematically. Through our partnership with IBM, we can help more businesses capture and analyze their buildings' data to achieve greater energy efficiency and reduce operating costs."

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

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