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Facebook Data Centers Go Green

Facebook's new data center in Prineville, Oregon has been recognized with LEED Gold Certification from the US Green Building Council. According to the press release, the data center uses 38 percent less energy to do the same work as the company's existing facilities.

Noteworthy features include: 100 percent outside air evaporative cooling; custom servers that use 38 percent less energy and can operate at higher temperatures to reduce mechanical cooling needs; innovative electrical distribution from an on-site substation that eliminates unnecessary losses from transformations and conversions.

Also according to the announcement, 100 percent of rainwater is captured and reused, resulting in a savings of 272,000 gallons of municipally treated water per year. A solar energy installation at the data center generates an estimated 204,000 kilowatt hours per year, providing electricity to the office areas, and the offices themselves are heated through reuse of heat that is generated by the servers.

Facebook also announced plans to build a new data center in Sweden – its first outside the US – to improve performance for European users. Facebook has chosen the northern city of Lulea, Sweden, for the new data center partly because of the cold climate, which is crucial for keeping the servers cool, and partly because of access to renewable energy from nearby hydropower facilities. Lulea is located 60 miles (100 kilometers) south of the Arctic Circle.

This move reflects Facebook's growing international presence. It now has 800 million users worldwide, and according to Facebook director of site operations Tom Furlong, "Facebook has more users outside the US than inside."

You can read more about the Prineville center here:

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