Data centre wins gold award for its environmental design

The data centre uses only energy from renewable sources and the energy efficient design saves the University between £65,000 and £75,000 per year in electricity costs. The data centre has brought significant benefits through significantly improved ICT system availability in a safe and secure environment.

Steve Watt, Chief Information Officer at the University of St Andrews, said: “We are absolutely delighted to achieve the CEEDA Gold standard again. We take our corporate social responsibility very seriously and developing an energy efficient data centre is part of this.

“We continue to be the only university in the world with this award, which is a very positive reflection on the skills, expertise and dedication of our IT Services and Estates colleagues.”

Nick Morris, Head of Product and Strategy, CEEDA at DataCenter Dynamics, said: “From the very start, the design of the data centre fully integrated fundamental principles of scalable energy efficiency, with an eye on significant anticipated service growth.

“What is truly outstanding is that the initial approach taken, and improvements put in place year on year, have matched evolving best practice – which is a testament to the flexibility of the design and the ability of the data centre operations team.”

Assessor, John Booth, Technical Lead (worldwide) for CEEDA said: “Once again the data centre operations team at the University of St Andrews have provided an excellent evidence pack to support the CEEDA auditors in the re-assessment of their data centre. I’m delighted that the University will retain its GOLD award for adopting in full the requirements of the EU Code of Conduct for Data Centres and the CEEDA criteria.”

The Data Centre Ops Group L-R: Alan Sumner, Project Coordinator, Steve Watt, Chief Information Officer, John Booth (Assessor & Technical Lead, CEEDA), Ian McDonald, Network and Infrastructure Team Leader, David Stutchfield, Sustainability Manager, Dean Drew, Associate Chief Information Officer

St Andrews was the first UK public sector organisation to achieve a Gold Award from the British Computer Society under the CEEDA scheme, an international assessment based awards programme which recognises a commitment to energy efficiency and the reduction of carbon emissions.

A joint project by the University’s IT Services and Estates units, the centre had to adhere to strict planning and noise restrictions. It is fitted with a special acoustic shield and was designed with an old-style slate roof to blend in with its historic surroundings.