E3 Power Management

Power Management refers to managing the sourcing and utilization of power sources that are used to keep the facility functional. This definition of Power Management has a number of implications, which are discussed below.

Facilities Management’s first task in managing power is to determine the power requirements for the facility. This includes defining:

• What the power is going to be needed for – e.g. office space, equipment in the Data Centre, the cafeteria, etc.
• When that power is going to be needed. Some operations require a consistent supply of electricity 24 hours a day. Others, such as office space, will use more electricity during the day and very little at night. Others only need electricity at a specific time
• How much power is going to be needed
• What type of power will be used. Although most organizations use electricity, in many locations the heating systems are dependent on natural gas.

Facilities Management will also be responsible for establishing a contract with utility companies, or in many cases the local authority or municipality that provides that service. This will include an agreed rate and a level of availability. This has become very important in locations where the electricity supply is variable due to lack of infrastructure or due to over-utilization by general consumers.

Facilities Management will be responsible for establishing standby power sources for power failures, disasters and other contingencies. This is generally in the form of Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPSs) for key equipment, and also generators powered by an alternative energy source (usually diesel). Facilities Management is responsible not only for supplying these alternatives, but also for testing them, keeping supplies of the fuel and maintaining them.

It needs to be said that any alternative power source needs to be modelled and tested to ensure that it is able to handle the required demand and also that it will automatically be activated following a power failure.

Another key activity of Facilities Management is to manage the utilization of power. Traditionally, the role of Facilities Management was just to ensure that power was available. However, as natural resources become scarcer and expensive, more attention is being focused on techniques to manage utilization more responsibly.

One such approach is the dynamic management of power in Data Centres. The principle is that during peak processing periods, more computers will be used to do the work. As the workload reduces, the work is centralized onto fewer computers, while those that are not being utilized are powered down or placed into standby mode. This requires a significant integration between the activities of IT Operations Management, Technical Management and all the Service Design processes. This is discussed in more detail under the section about Data Centre strategies.

Date: 2014-12-29; view: 1074