REDEFINING SUSTAINABILITY IN THE DATA CENTRE SECTOR P R O J E C T PA R T N E R S
REDEFINING SUSTAINABILITY IN THE DATA CENTRE SECTOR Written by Laura Mullan Produced by Lewis Vaughan
At a time when sustainability is a key talking point in the data centre space, one of Europe’s largest internet companies is blowing the competition away with sustainable data centre operations
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rappling with some of the largest behemoths in the tech industry, in Russia, it’s Yandex which reigns supreme. Commanding 54% of the market in the region, Yandex owns Russia’s most popular search engine which also stands as the fourth most popular search engine globally – yet that’s not all it offers. Some 19mn people log into its online marketplace, Yandex.Market every month and its service, Yandex. Taxi accounts for 60% of Moscow’s taxi rides. On top of this, the Russian firm also offers products like translation services, map services, crowdsourcing tools and more. Right across its portfolio, Yandex strives to make everyday life simple, using data to empower its customers.
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Now the Russian web giant is, quite literally, giving power to citizens, with its state-of-the-art data colocation centre in Finland. Standing proudly in the southern province of Mäntsälä, Yandex’s data centre is a mammoth operation to behold, with five data halls at 500 sqm each.
A sustainable vision More impressive though, is the fact that this data centre is heating the local district’s water by reusing its waste energy. “As a dynamic technology company, we want to lead the way and bring new ideas and new innovations to the industry,” explains Ari Kurvi, the firm’s Data Centre Manager. “For us,
it’s important to give back to the community and make full use of the excess energy we produce. “Half of the neighbouring urban city’s needs can be fulfilled by our excess heat which is environmentally very impressive, yet this isn’t just about sustainability as there’s also a very solid business case behind it,” he adds. “Therefore, I think it’s important to show the industry that this is doable and to encourage others to follow our lead.” Working alongside local Finnish energy company Nivos OY, the Russian web firm has developed a ground-breaking approach to heat production. The excess heat from Yandex’s data centre is collected and directed through the district heating network to Mäntsälä households. In doing so, the Finnish city has been able to reduce the price of heating and slash its emissions by 40%.
Energy efficiency realised The Mäntsälä data centre is built around an inherent need to drive efficiencies and its state-of-the-art district heating solution is a solid reflection of this ethos. “At the moment, our energy reuse factor is 0.31, which means that 31% of the energy what we take in can be recycled for further use,” notes Kurvi. “We are now embarking on the next phase of this energy reuse installation and through that, we hope to increase our energy reuse factor to
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The utilized waste heat does not burden nature nor wallet Households in Mäntsälä are heated by pictures, memories and data stored in Yandex datacenter. In data parlors 1000 stoves worth of heat is generated every second. Instead of wasting the heat it is collected by Yandex. Nivos, an innovative energy company located in Mäntsälä, recycles the heat into the district heating network in Mäntsälä. “We realized that we won’t get a data center locate to Mäntsälä unless we offer them an innovative and useful operating model. Therefore we studied how both parties could benefit from using the excess heat. When Yandex planned to invest in Finland we offered this type of business concept” Esa Muukka, CEO of Nivos talks about how co-operation started and continues. “And as you can see, the result is outstanding ecosystem between an energy company and a datacenter”
Local, emission-free and cheaper energy – everyone wins Nivos and Yandex were the first ones in the world to recycle waste heat from the data center
to the district heating network on this scale. Half of Nivos’ heating energy now comes from locally generated waste heat. Additionally, in 2017 CO2 emissions fell by 40 %. Because of this venture, Nivos has also been able to lower the district heating prices. “The waste heat is local, no emission, and cheaper than the natural gas from which the district heating was previously produced. When others are pushing for district heating prices, we will lower them: once the cooperation has started, prices have been lowered to customers twice.” Muukka tells. And of course for datacenters this means business. Nivos buys the excess heat on normal commercial terms. So the heat produced by the data center recovery decreases Yandex’s operation cost. “That kind of radical thinking requires a little positive madness,” laughs Yandex Data Center Manager Ari Kurvi. “Fortunately, plenty of courage is found on both sides. Nothing will ever change if you always go down the usual path.”
About Nivos Nivos is a trailblazer in the energy industry. Over the past few years, Nivos has developed an award-winning heat recovery system for a data centre, power grid automation and sensor technology, as well as distributed energy solutions, for example. Tel 019 68 991 | Customer service 019 689 955 Email service@nivos.fi Mäntsälä, Finland
www.nivos.fi/en/Yandex
around 0.55 or 0.60, which means 60% of our energy will be reused.” Sustainability has become a huge talking point in the data centre landscape, as the facilities are leveraging increasingly more energy. In an alarming report by Climate Change News, the outlet suggested that the communications industry could consume one-fifth of global electricity by 2025. This is something which Yandex is taking seriously and it has many more sustainability initiatives under its sleeve.
exhaust area is,” says Kurvi. “This will also reduce the need for energy for fans on those days when it’s windy. “In a similar vein, the building was designed so that all its interior lights are LED lights, which keeps energy consumption low overall and this is one of the reasons we are best-in-class,” he adds. All of this has culminated to help Yandex achieve a power usage effectiveness (PUE) of 1.15 for the whole site including office buildings, one of the most efficient ratings in the sector.
Unique cooling design
An ideal location
The firm’s Finnish data centre not only boasts a trailblazing heating system, it also has been meticulously designed by engineering firm Royal Haskoning. With a distinguishing aeroplane wing shape, the Mäntsälä data centre has an efficient air-cooling system, which Kurvi says is integral to its energy-efficient standing. “By designing the building in the shape of an aeroplane wing and facing it towards the nominal wind direction, it creates a little bit of under pressure behind of the building where the
The Nordic data centre is just one of over 10 data centres that the Russian firm has across the globe and the choice of location
“This isn’t just about sustainability, there’s also a very solid business case behind it” – Ari Kruvi, Data Centre Manager
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Yandex operates ten data centres around the world
was by no means accidental. “There are many reasons why Yandex felt Finland was a good choice,” reflects Kurvi. “The power quality is very good, the cost of electricity is better than some other western countries, there’s a good availability of skilled labour, and the region’s strong fibre connectivity is also very important. “We use direct air-cooling in almost every data centre we have and, in this respect, the Finnish climate and clean air quality make this location
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optimal as there is cold, clean air available for cooling purposes. “As well as this, the local energy company was very willing to cooperate with us and build this ground-breaking new approach to heat production,” he adds. “In this region, they’ve already lowered the district heat price by 10% because they can reuse our excess heat. In this way, we have a very good citizenship approach. I think we are very well-known and well-accepted here because of this.”
Your business case today
translated in smart data centre space for tomorrow
Royal HaskoningDHV is an independent, international engineering and project management consultancy with 135 years of experience. Backed by the expertise and experience of 6,000 colleagues all over the world, our professionals combine ‘global expertise’ with ‘local knowledge’ to deliver a multidisciplinary range of consultancy services. By showing leadership and innovation in the design of data centres, we are creating solutions for a vital infrastructure in our modern live and empower a sustainable society now and into the future. For more information, please contact: Martien Arts, Director - Mission Critical Facilities T: +31 88 348 6550 M: +31 6 51846333 E: martien.arts@rhdhv.com www.royalhaskoningdhv.com/datacentres
Collaboration is King How a collaborative team approach helped DPR Construction deliver Yandex’s first data caenter build outside of Russia
Complex mission critical design and construction projects require cross-team collaboration. While there are performance metrics and benchmarks to help guide success, team dynamics can make or break a project. With a short timeframe for design, procurement and execution of its first data center outside of Russia, Yandex quickly realized traditional design and construction processes were not going to meet their needs. They also realized a traditional contractor would not fit the bill. Yandex enlisted DPR Construction, one of the top data center contractors in the U.S. over the past decade. DPR proposed an alternative plan that allowed for the design to be finalized during the preconstruction phase of work. The preconstruction effort took an innovative approach allowing the design to be completed without delaying the construction start. Preconstruction also fostered a collaborative effort between designers, Yandex and DPR, which maximized the design development. DPR implemented a 360° team approach, tying together the entire project team and eliminating silos. The collaborative team approach empowered and improved the speed of decision making by individuals and avoided the old “decision-by-committee” approach. When asked how to best manage and strengthen teams to ensure projects are set up for success, DPR’s Damian Farr outlined six crucial responsibilities for managing a project:
1 gigawatt and counting... Total data center power capacity put-in-place by DPR Construction around the globe to date.
Learn more about DPR’s experience and expertise at
www.DPR.com
1. Develop a clear and common understanding of project values and goals. This is the foundation of a truly collaborative project — clearly defined project values and goals that are determined by all key stakeholders. 2. Clearly communicate these values and goals to ALL participants. In addition to clearly communicating values with all participants, leaders must appropriately onboard any subcontractors or consultants, as well as continually reinforce the goals and values to the whole team through repetition and recognition. 3. Create a functional physical and virtual space for co-location. To enhance performance, digital networks, collaboration systems and other elements must be established up front. 4. Define the necessary project teams/select team members. Teams should be diverse, crossfunctional and have different viewpoints and perspectives. Not only does this diversity provide more information to inform the design, the tension between perspectives stimulates greater creativity. 5. Provide training and mentoring for project teams. Training and mentoring should address three task performance issues: level and coordination of member effort; appropriateness of the task and performance strategies the team is using; and degree to which the team leverages all of its members’ knowledge and skills. 6. Monitor and adjust team dynamics as needed. The team’s strengths and weaknesses should be reviewed and addressed to minimize negative impacts.
ABOUT DPR CONSTRUCTION DPR Construction is a forward-thinking international general contractor specializing in technically complex and sustainable projects. Since 1990, DPR has grown with its customers supporting them internationally through offices in the U.S., Asia and the Netherlands.
DAMIAN FARR Europe Managing Director DPR Construction DamianF@europe.dpr.com +31 618 585 380 (NL) +44 7984 005 725 (UK)
One of Yandex’s data centres
Operational excellence Like any data centre, operational excellence is at the heart of the Mäntsälä data centre and now, as the company’s data consumption and size swells, Kurvi says that there will undoubtedly be more data centres in the pipeline and, as the industry grows, he says tech companies have a civic responsibility to uphold the highest sustainability standards. “Yandex is growing fast and the demand for data centres is growing. I think we will expand the site or create a new one within the next two to three years or so,” notes Kurvi.
“On top of this, we’re also promoting operational excellence and maintaining the site so it stays in excellent shape. Of course, as any company, we are also reducing costs wherever we can electricity-wise by selling more waste energy and trying to be as energyefficient as we can,” he continues. “We are managing our own IT hardware design and combining that with energy-efficient ventilation and cooling to be the top-class data centre in the world – that’s where our concentration is at the moment.”
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YA N D E X O Y
Strong industry ties ‘No man is an island’, and the same can often be said about business. In the ever-evolving tech industry, new innovations are emerging every other day. Therefore, the right collaboration could set you miles ahead of a competitor and arguably no one understands this better than Yandex, “The business development unit in this municipality is one of the biggest reasons why Yandex decided to switch on its data centre in Mäntsälä,” says Kurvi. “They take care of our needs as well as our future plans and improvement plans.
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May 2018
“One of our key partners has been MYK Oy, we’ve worked with them a lot to see how we can help the municipality grow, and bring new companies to the city, and in turn, we’re also enhancing our level of services. “Another key player is a company called Calefa Oy, who has delivered the heat reuse system for us,” he adds. “Together we have innovated and built the whole concept and they’ve also provided all the necessary equipment and heat pump solutions. They have been very open-minded and also have really helped us improve our sustainability.”
SERIOUS COMMITMENT IN PROJECTS AND SCHEDULES Telefuusio Ltd (part of Instalco concern) is a responsible-minded contractor specialized in telecommunications network (SCS) and audio-visual systems installation service (AV). We look after providing our customers with long-lasting telecommunications solutions. At the same, we take an active stand in regard to design errors, in case they occur during a project. Area of operation: We operate throughout and, if needed, outside Finland.
www.telefuusio.fi info@telefuusio.fi e u+358 r o p 45 e . b133 u s0881 inesschief.com
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100% uptime Although the firm is embarking on an ambitious sustainability drive, Yandex hasn’t forgotten the core objective of its data centre – to ensure that European projects by Yandex Data Factory, its machine learning and big data division, run consistently, without interruption. Today, ensuring the uptime of mission-critical operations is more important than ever with data centre downtime costing around $8,000 per minute, according to an in-depth study by the Emerson Network Power and the Ponemon Institute. Therefore, 100% uptime isn’t just a whim, it’s a necessity. “We have a lot of backup power generation onsite and have power reserves in case of emergencies,” Kurvi notes. “We also have an agreement with the Finnish national grid so they ensure the grid is stable. “It’s very important because we need to make sure we have 100% uptime for the company,” he adds. Since 1997, Yandex has delivered market-leading information services with over 53mn users logging into its services every month. The
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Russian web giant is presently one of Europe’s largest internet businesses and it expects sales growth to accelerate this year, forecasting that its consolidated revenue will be between 25-30% in 2018. With such imminent growth on the horizon, Kurvi is optimistic about the firm’s future, and the example it will continue to set in the data centre industry. “Where do I see Yandex in five years?” reflects Kurvi. “I hope that the Mäntsälä data centre will have doubled or tripled in size from what we are today. I would like to see us stand as one of the world’s most ecological and best-driven data centres from both a sustainability and operations perspective. I hope that our downtime will remain 0% and uptime 100%.” “Yandex is a very technical and competent company when it comes to designing and operating data centres. We are very innovative and we’re going in a direction where no one else has been. In that sense, we want to be known as a leading technology company and a leading data centre business.”
“I would like to see us stand as one of the world’s most ecological and best-driven data centres” – Ari Kurvi, Data Centre Manager
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ULITSA LVA TOLSTOGO 16, MOSCOW, RUSSIA, 119021 +7 495 739-70-00 | www.yandex.com