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DC Pro Software Tool Suite

Companies can use the DC Pro Software Tool Suite to identify and evaluate energy efficiency opportunities in data centers. The suite features a Profiling Tool and a set of System Assessment Tools to perform energy assessments on specific areas of a data center. Some of the following documents are available as Adobe Acrobat PDFs. Download Adobe Reader.

Intended Users

The DC Pro Tool Suite is designed for data center owners and operators who want to diagnose how energy is being used by their data centers and determine ways to save energy and money.

DC Pro Profiling Tool

Use the Profiling Tool as a first step to identify potential savings and to reduce environmental emissions associated with data center energy use. Once you acquire your input data, you can complete a profile in a few hours.

Inputs

To use the Profiling Tool, users will need to input the following information:

• Description
• Utility bill data
• System information for IT, HVAC, electrical, and on-site generation.

Outputs

Based on input, the Profiling Tool will provide:

• Overall picture of energy use and efficiency
• End-use breakout—site or source energy
• Potential areas for energy efficiency improvement
• Overall energy use reduction potential.

System Assessment Tools

Air-Management Tool

Air management in data centers is important both for energy and thermal management. The Air-Management Tool is intended mainly for raised-floor cooling with hot/cold equipment aisles.

Inputs

To use the Air-Management Tool, users will need to fill in data and answer questions on four input sheets:

• Air-handler unit data for calculating Return Temperature Index (RTI) (energy metric)
• IT-equipment data for calculating the RTI metric
• IT-equipment intake temperatures for calculating Rack Cooling Index (RCI) (equipment cooling metric)
• Main input with questions for determining energy savings and recommendations.

Outputs

Based on input, the Air-Management Tool will:

• Provide air-management recommendations
• Estimate the potential for reducing supply airflow rate and increasing supply air temperature
• Estimate the percentage of energy reduction for fans and chillers.

Electrical Systems Tool

This tool is designed to help assess the potential savings from efficiency actions in the electrical power chain of a data center, including lighting.

Inputs

To use the Electrical Systems Tool, users will need to input:

• Basic configuration and efficiency information on electrical system components such as transformers, generators, uninterruptible power supply (UPS), power distribution unit (PDU) devices, and lighting
• Energy use of electrical systems.

Outputs

Based on input, the Electrical Systems Tool will:

• Estimate potential savings for various electrical system efficiency actions.

For More Information

• DC Pro Tool Suite Fact Sheet (PDF 1.3 MB)

Additional Resources

These resources can help you conduct your own data center energy use assessment:

• Data Center Energy Assessment Process (PDF 72 KB)—use this document as a step-by-step guideline for performing an assessment and see which DOE tools are available to help you with each step
• Master List of Actions for DC Pro (PDF 496 KB)—this master list contains many of the energy efficiency actions addressed by the DC Pro Tool Suite that you can copy and paste into your data center assessment report
• Standard Report Template for Conducting a Data Center Energy Efficiency Assessment (MS Word 312 KB)—this fillable document provides a template for your own data center assessment report, including the type of data that should be included.