Gold standard

The University of St Andrews has retained the GOLD award for its Butts Wynd Data Centre by the The British Computing Society (BCS) for CEEDA (Certified Energy Efficient Data Centre Award).

Two years ago, the University became the first public sector organisation to achieve accreditation, and an organisation has to undergo an audit every two years, so in September 2014 a BCS CEEDA Auditor visited the University.

The BCS has now confirmed that, as result of this recent re-accreditation audit, the University has retained the CEEDA GOLD award for energy efficiency across all areas of its Data Centre - and remains the only public sector organisation in the world to hold the Gold standard.

During this latest assessment, for the first time the University was measured against new CEEDA GOLD+ criteria - used to enable feedback and reporting of some of the most advanced energy efficiency criteria available. The assessment looks at the way an organisation approaches energy-efficiency best practice across all areas of the data centre including; IT equipment, procurement and operational processes, cooling and power systems equipment, building control systems and the monitoring and management of energy usage.

The BCS has confirmed that the University has met the new CEEDA GOLD+ criteria.

The University of St Andrews data centre opened in 2011, built at a cost of £2.4 million on the site of the University’s former squash courts, and runs entirely on energy from renewable sources.

The University turned to the CEEDA framework as a way of defining a common approach and standard that would help different parts of the organisation work together, while ensuring stringent processes and continual improvement.

Modifications based on the recommendations from the original CEEDA audit have been implemented, resulting in additional energy savings significantly greater than originally forecast.

Steve Watt, Chief Information Officer explains more about the benefits of undergoing the assessment: "When we decided to have our facility assessed under the BCS’s Certified Energy Efficient Data Centre Award (CEEDA) framework, back in 2012, the top priorities were the university’s efficiency and sustainability goals – and we were delighted to achieve the Gold award, however we’ve reaped many other benefits since.

“Not only did the scheme help to meet those goals, aiding in a significant reduction of energy expenditure and carbon emissions, it has also encouraged migration to the facility from across the campus, The kudos of the accreditation has made the job of selling the data centre as the facility of choice much easier, especially as the management of the facility can be seen to follow best practice and there is a clear focus on energy usage reduction, which is a key strategic aim. The data centre project also continues to generate significant internal and external interest – and the project team have won a number of awards for the innovative methods and practices we adopt. This has opened new opportunities for learning and sharing best practice with organisations from all over the world.”