BINGHAM FARMS, Mich. — To commemorate Earth Day, MojoHost has announced some of the "green initiatives" that are being implemented during the ongoing construction of its Michigan Data Center, set to launch later this year.
MojoHost founder Brad Mitchell explained that “the entire data center uses cutting-edge technology not just for serving blazing-fast websites but also for contributing to a greener future through cleaner technology.”
“We made as many choices as we could with the environment in mind, despite the costs,” Mitchell added. "Nobody is doing what we are doing on the scale we are doing it."
Mitchell cited Mojohost's “significant power ratings advantage.”
According to the company, an average data center runs at a Power Usage Efficiency (PUE) of approximately 1.5 to 2.0 with "good" facilities running around 1.25. The 15,000-square-foot MojoHost facility, they explained, runs at a rating of 1.1, which means it takes less energy to cool and maintain the temperatures of its equipment and operations than other facilities.
“Every server cabinet in the facility is chilled to achieve this engineering feat,” said a rep.
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The company conceded that it is not always easy to operate entirely free of fossil fuels. The facility has a contract for priority refueling of its four diesel backup generators (soon to be six), but they hope that they are never used.
"Instead of using batteries that are horrible for the environment, we decided to integrate a flywheel that uses centrifugal force to cause a drum to spin," described Mitchell. "In the event of power loss, it takes a minute for diesel generators to fire up, and most facilities use massive batteries to do that. At our facility, the flywheel does the trick and it's pretty amazing."
Michigan winters were considered when designing the facility, and the outdoor water chillers provide free cooling for the facility when outside temperatures drop below 42F during the cold season.
But, Mitchell added, not every decision going into the facility will have “a huge impact on the planet.”
"My kids and I recycled motherboards from MojoHost's first racks of servers to create a new logo art piece for the interior of the building," he said. "It's a small thing, but it means a lot to have that legacy in the new building, beyond whatever small impact there might be by avoiding the landfill."
For more information, visit MojoHost.com and follow the company on Twitter.