IRS Could Save $3 Million with Cooler Data Centers
Energy-efficient practices at two IRS data centers could save the agency more than $3 million.
By
Ainsley Jones | Jun 9, 2010
A report issued by the Treasury inspector general for tax administration (TIGTA) last month says the Internal Revenue Service can save more than $3 million over four years by implementing better cooling techniques at data centers located in Memphis, Tenn. and Martinsburg, W.Va.
Flaws in the data center's cooling systems include missing floor tiles allowing hot and cool air to mix and inconsistencies in the row spacing of servers in the data centers. According to the audit, neither site is equipped with occupancy sensors to control lighting, monitor energy consumption or determine how power use is distributed throughout the data center, InformationWeek reports.
TIGTA says the savings could be greater if cooling system improvements were made in all 11 of the agencies data centers, according to Federal Computer Week. The figures are somewhat inflated since they do not account for the cost of implementing cooling best practices, but the savings would still be considered significant, says TIGTA.
