The California Energy Commission has approved the Liebert EconoPhase Pumped Refrigerant Economizer used by the Liebert DSE thermal management system for use in California data centers under The California Energy Code (Title 24), as an alternative prescriptive method.
The California Energy Code (Title 24) requires data centers to meet the efficiency requirement of one of three economization methods (outside air economization, water economization or pumped refrigerant economization) or to demonstrate that a proposed solution meets or exceeds the energy efficiency of the prescriptive methods. This paper describes the data, calculations and modeling that led to approval for pumped refrigeration as an option for data center cooling.
Key Takeaways
- The use of refrigerant economizers provides significant benefits in California data centers — there is on average a 5% to 6% reduction in the TDV (Time Dependent Valuation) energy value, but more significantly it eliminates the water requirement for these data centers.
- The inclusion of a refrigerant economizer, such as the Liebert® DSE™ system with Liebert EconoPhase™ pumped refrigerant economizer, in the prescriptive compliance method makes the adaption and implementation of this technology on par with water economization evaluations.
- The Liebert DSE data center cooling system with pumped refrigerant economization system is a break-through technology that solves many building design issues for thermal management needs, and meets or exceeds the efficiency of most water and air economization methods.
