A Call to Arms - Let the Digging Begin!

If you're beginning to ponder your 2009 facility budgets and if you're worried about how you're going to fund significant cost increases from electricity to toilet paper, perhaps you'll consider signing a petition asking those responsible for the nation's "energy policy" (i.e. the US Congress) that we, the people, (you know, the folks they're supposed to represent) are asking, NO - WE'RE NOW DEMANDING that oil companies be allowed to produce more oil and natural gas from North American sources.

What -- did Poor Richard say North America? How can this be possible?

On a planet that's 8,000 miles in diameter, do you really believe that the ONLY oil and natural gas reserves are under that tiny patch of desert in the Middle East? Puh-lease....

Look, our facilities budgets are becoming "victims" of US energy policy! If you think your facility is not being victimized because you have a fleet of hybrid cars or solar panels on the roof -- think again. What about every product and service your facility will purchase over the next 12 months? It's time to wake up and recognize that energy is a component of EVERYTHING - EVERYTHING. Facility managers everywhere should send a message to the pin heads in Washington who are driving up the expenses in our buildings and our vehicle fleets!

THIS IS A CALL TO ARMS !

By the way, I hope you don't have misguided anger or resentment toward the oil companies. If you do, please answer this question: If asinine government policies forced YOUR organization's product or service to have limited supplies combined with steady and growing international demand - would YOUR stockholders refuse the profits? Would you give back the bonus awarded to the facilities department? Would your organization consider a 5 - 10% profit margin to be obscene?

Last point -- we need to remember that crude oil and natural gas are renewable resources that are also 100% organic & all natural. Tell that to the next hippie burnout that complains about the styrofoam coffee cups in your break room. Watch his eyes get wide as his brain struggles to comprehend what you've just said.

This is a call to arms! We're getting ripped off by OUR government, not the oil companies. Write to your elected representatives and to learn more about the petition, go to:

http://www.americansolutions.com/

Poor Richard

Disgruntled FM, Taxpayer and Voter

Earth Day Coverage: Study Indicates Lack of Standards is Slowing Green Data Center Initiatives

Digital Realty Trust, Inc. is reporting results from a new study of green data center trends that show significant changes since 2007. The findings are based on a survey of senior decision makers at leading North American corporations who are directly responsible for data center strategy, planning, and technology. Digital Realty Trust conducted a similar study in 2007, one of the first in-depth analyses of green trends in the data center industry.

“When we conducted our first green data center study last year, respondents expressed concern about the lack of industry standards for green data centers. The impact of that concern is very evident in this year’s survey. Companies are looking for leadership and clarity on how to define a green data center, how to design their green data center plans, and how to put them into action,” said Jim Smith, vice president of engineering at Digital Realty Trust. “In the past, the question may have been how to convince companies of the value of green data centers. The good news is that is no longer a problem. Companies are convinced. The challenge is that the data center industry needs to step up and show the way with clear standards.”

Key findings from the research study are provided below:

• 51% of companies have a green data center strategy, a decline since the 2007 study when 55% of companies answered the question affirmatively. This indicates that corporate adoption of green data center strategies has stalled or perhaps taken a step back since last year.
• 82% of companies say there is no clear industry standard for green data centers. This figure is up from 75% in 2007, indicating that there is more ambiguity than clarity in the industry. One area where there was broad agreement was in what elements an industry standard should comprise. The top two responses were: 94% agreed that a standard should outline how to achieve efficient power usage (i.e. maximizing energy delivered to IT equipment by the facility); and 83% agreed that a standard should also outline how to enhance HVAC systems to use energy more efficiently. 
• In the absence of green data center standards, companies site LEED certification as the best alternative. More than 60% of companies look to LEED general building standards as a model for their green data center initiatives. The Green Grid was also cited as a resource for green data center initiatives, indicating that the consortium is gaining visibility and momentum in the industry.
• Of the companies that do have a green data center strategy, 82% are taking a holistic approach that encompasses not only servers and other datacenter hardware, but also facility design and data center operations. This is nearly identical to the 2007 metric (81%), indicating that companies understand the value of taking a comprehensive approach that maximizes energy efficiency by addressing not just the equipment in the data center, but the facility itself.
• Only 18% of companies are planning to include carbon credits in their green data center plans, down from a figure of 25% in 2007. This indicates that companies are focusing on directly reducing their data center energy consumption rather than displacing it through carbon credits solutions.

Digital Realty Trust is also publishing results from a Europe-focused study of green data center trends. The European survey shows that green data center initiatives currently have greater momentum in the U.K., Germany, France, the Netherlands and Ireland. For example, 60% of European companies have green data center plans, more than 70% plan to make green upgrades to existing facilities, and a significant portion have already begun requiring their data center vendors to have a green strategy that meets their standards. The European study does, however, find that companies in those countries see a similar lack of industry standards, an issue that could slow momentum as it appears to have done in North America.