Data Centers
Improve PUE, reduce energy usage, and extend maintenance cycles while protecting equipment with high efficiency filtration.
Today’s data center managers face a critical challenge: minimizing downtime in increasingly dense computing environments while improving Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) and meeting decarbonization goals.
With HVAC systems consuming 21–61% of total data center energy costs, optimizing these systems represents one of the greatest opportunities to redirect power from facility operations to actual computing resources – the core mission of any data center.
Beyond energy concerns, airborne contaminants pose serious threats to data center equipment reliability. From ultrafine particles and corrosive gases that accelerate component degradation or microscopic zinc whiskers, air quality directly impacts uptime and equipment lifespan.
“More than half of the data centers’ air conditioning systems are inefficient. In total, HVAC systems account for about 38% of facility energy consumption. The range for this usage was 21% for the most efficient system and 61% for the least efficient system.”
J. Ni and X. Bai, "A review of air conditioning energy performance in data centers.," Renewable and sustainable energy reviews, 67, 625-640, 2017.
Our proven air cleaning technologies allow you to repurpose energy from fan load to computing power while enhancing equipment protection and minimizing maintenance.
| Current | Dynamic Solution | Applications |
|---|---|---|
| CRAC | 1" Panel | Particulate Filtration, Wildfire Smoke, PM 2.5 |
| MERV 8, MERV 11 Passive Filter | V-Bank | Particulate Filtration, Wildfire Smoke, PM 2.5 |
| MERV 13 Passive Filter or Zinc Whisker Application | V8 | Particulate Filtration, Wildfire Smoke, PM 2.5, Zinc Whiskers |
| Activated Carbon | EDGE | Corrosive Gases |
Replacing traditional pre and post filtration (MERV 8 +13 or even higher) with Dynamic’s technology reduces mid-life static pressure by more than 1 inch and design static by more than 1.75 inches. This lower static pressure corresponds directly to lower brake horsepower and significantly less energy consumption. With Dynamic Air Cleaners, engineers can redirect energy from fan horsepower to computing. The chart at right demonstrates how Dynamic Solutions can deliver high efficiency filtration at reduced loads, resulting in fan energy savings of 50% or more – and a lower PUE ratio.
Instead of using MERV 8 plus MERV 13 cartridge filters, a 740,000-cfm data center equipped with the Dynamic V8® Air Cleaning System can redirect up to 68% of the HVAC fan energy to computing power.
Historically, as filter efficiency increased, so did energy usage. Dynamic’s Air Cleaning Systems break this paradigm by providing high-efficiency filtration with pressure drops far lower than passive filters.
This also allows for energy retrofits in new data centers with high efficiency passive filters, and for energy and filtration upgrades in older data centers that were designed for minimal filtration.
Additionally, Dynamic Air Cleaners offer the highest dust loading capacities, resulting in far fewer filter changes and reduced maintenance.
Free cooling is increasing in popularity in data centers due to the energy-saving benefit but bringing outdoor air has the potential to introduce outside contaminants – including particulates and corrosive gases – from recurring sources like automobile exhaust, or from singular, large scale events such as wildfires.
Large particles can obviously cause a range of issues, but are easily captured. Harder to catch are ultrafine particles (UFPs) – those smaller than 0.1micron. UFPs are a byproduct of combustion and reactions of ozone and other compounds in the atmosphere. They carry with them a range of adsorbed contaminants. Their movement is strongly influenced by electrostatic and electromagnetic fields, and they will deposit on boards and drives and other equipment, causing corrosion and bridging. UFPs have always made up most of the contaminants in the air in urban areas due to vehicles, planes, industry, and power plants. However, with the increase in wildfires in recent years, UFPs have become an "everywhere" issue.
Our polarized media technology effectively captures ultrafine particles (<0.3 microns) and black carbon from combustion sources. With Dynamic’s high efficiency filtration, equipment can be cooled with outside air free of contaminants.
We are surrounded by hydrocarbon combustion processes in our daily lives: cars, trucks, buses, planes, helicopters, generators, powerplants, furnaces, boilers and these are sources of PM2.5, UFP and gas phase contaminants. For an in depth look at how to address exhaust contaminants:
“Mitigating Contaminants from Common Everyday Combustion Sources”
With large wildfire events increasing in frequency, wildfire smoke has become a concern for all buildings including data centers. PM2.5 and UFP, the smallest of wildfire smoke particles, can travel long distances and also require higher filtration for removal. For more background on wildfire smoke and how to remove it see “Wildfire Smoke and Maintaining Indoor Air Quality."
VOCs and SVOCs have a myriad of indoor and outdoor sources and can also condense on internal sever surfaces and accelerate corrosion. Further, acid gases such as H2S from agricultural activities, costal marshes, water treatment plants, and landfills are themselves highly corrosive. Since data centers are often in areas with relatively inexpensive land, they often have corrosive neighbors.
In highly polluted urban environments, Dynamic EDGE® Gas Phase Removal provides efficient and effective control of corrosive gases.
Technological advancements allow for higher operating temperatures, lowering the cooling demands. However, increased temperatures are known to accelerate the growth of “zinc whiskers” from zinc coated surfaces.
Once zinc whiskers form, they often break off and become airborne. Due to their electric conductivity, they can then result in shorting or other damaging effects to electrical and electronic equipment, compromising their reliability and longevity.
Customers seek out the Dynamic V8® Air Cleaning System for its ability to remove 99% of zinc whiskers from the air. They not only enjoy cleaner air, they also appreciate enhanced risk mitigation on server reliability.
Our versatile 1" Polarized Media Panel Filters deliver significant energy and maintenance savings in even the smallest Computer Room Air Conditioning (CRAC) applications. Designed to fit in any standard1” filter rack, these panels allow users to repurpose more energy than standard passive filters and with 3-4 times the maintenance intervals reducing downtime by 75%. With extremely low pressure drop, these panels can achieve MERV 13 level performance at under 0.50” of final resistance. Their compact design makes them perfect for protecting sensitive equipment in server rooms and data halls with space limitations.
Our 1” V-Bank Filters deliver exceptional total cost of ownership through reduced energy consumption and extended maintenance cycles. Providing MERV 13 level performance, with final Static Pressures lower than 0.25” and maintenance intervals of 12-18 months, the V-Bank reduces expended kWh’s by 67% and maintenance dollars by 75% compared to passive filters. The Dynamic 1” V-Bank redirects power from cooling to computing by minimizing fan energy requirements while maintaining superior air quality. This translates directly to your optimal choice for improved PUE and more computing power per kWh.
The V8 Air Cleaning System provides comprehensive data center risk mitigation against airborne contaminants including ultrafine particles, wildfire smoke, PM1.0 and PM2.5. The polarized media technology offers MERV 15 level performance and 99% removal of zinc whiskers while maintaining significantly lower pressure drop than conventional filtration. The V8’s zero bypass design ensures complete air treatment with lab tested efficiencies in every air handler. The V8 is unmatched on maintenance intervals for minimal data center downtime and more computing time. Combining superior contaminant control with data center energy savings, the V8 delivers the best combination of equipment protection, reduced maintenance and improved PUE.
The Dynamic EDGE delivers exceptional gas phase filtration with remarkably low static pressure – less than 0.2” w.g. Designed to fit standard filter racks, the EDGE panels provide precise control of corrosive gases that can damage sensitive electronic components and prevent costly equipment failures and downtime. Ideal for facilities implementing free cooling strategies or located in areas with specific gas phase concerns, the EDGE panels integrate seamlessly with your data center HVAC infrastructure. By enabling more extensive use of outside air economization without contamination risk, EDGE contributes to lower PUE ratios and supports your data center sustainability profile.
In a 2024 DOE report, the data center energy usage is projected to increase significantly in the next few years (graph). With this increasing demand on the power grid, governments are implementing regulations and incentives for green data centers and in the U.S., tax incentives are offered for companies that invest in sustainable data center technologies
“According to SNS Insider, the Green Data Center Market was valued at USD 62.9 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach USD 272.2 billion by 2032”
LEED certification is one pathway towards a green data center. LEED incentivizes the adoption of energy-efficient practices including optimizing cooling systems and implementing advanced power management technologies. LEED-certified data centers include sustainable practices with the added benefit of cutting operational costs.
LEED BD+C: Data Centers V4 and V4.1: Dynamic Solutions can contribute to LEED Optimize Energy Performance and Enhanced Indoor Air Quality Strategies credits.
Dynamic's filtration technologies work together to address the critical challenges facing today's facilities: improving efficiency, protecting equipment, and reducing operational costs. By minimizing pressure drop and reducing data center downtime, our solutions help you redirect energy from cooling to computing - delivering measurable improvements to your ROI while making meaningful progress toward your data center decarbonization goals.
