Energy Efficiency
The manufacturers of end-devices as well as mobile communication operators, broadband providers and Internet services such as search engines and web platforms all require energy for the production of equipment as well as the transport and storage of data. Demand for energy will double by 2020 not just because in developed nations rising volumes of data traffic, the rapid up-grade of telecommunication infrastructure and increasing broadband penetration are requiring greater amounts of energy, but also because the use of modern technologies in developing countries is only in its infancy. The number of PCs alone will reach the 4 billion-mark in these countries by 2020, four times the number predicted by a Climate Group study in 2008.
Against this backdrop, A1 is setting new standards in terms of energy efficiency in equipment rooms. An efficient cooling system, the so-called hot-spot suction extraction system, will save approximately 4,500 MWh of electricity once it has been rolled out across Austria. This is the equivalent of the annual power consumption of 1,000 Austrian households. Unlike the previously used method, where the ambient air inside an IT facility is cooled, hot-spot ventilation focuses on the heat source itself. Hot air is extracted from directly above the equipment (hot spot) while at the same time outdoor air is used for cooling. The positive side effect: The hot-spot method increases the availability and life-cycle of cooling systems and requires significantly less maintenance work than conventional air-conditioning systems. This reduces the impact on the environment by 50%. A1 is gradually adapting existing facilities and constructing new ones with hot-spot extraction; in 2010, 21 electronic equipment rooms were fitted with this technology.
The company headquarters in the Lassallestrasse in Vienna as well as two other large buildings in Graz and Salzburg are fully powered by green energy.
