23092010

Yahoo's super efficient Data Center

By Eco Guy 11:31pm 23rd September 2010
Yahoo has been able to apply passive cooling and hydro-electricity to a data center to produce massive savings in power usage and environmental foot print.

Most people have not heard of AAC blocks or similar 'specialized' building systems. They are most usually familiar with brick or wood construction.

Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC) is a form of concrete that is literally 'bubbled concrete' cast into a form; usually as a large brick but can often be whole floor or wall sections. This material has the following properties:

  • Light weight when compared to normal bricks
  • High R-Value, so has a good ability to insulate against heat and cold
  • High fire rating, both due to the high R-Value and concrete based construction.
  • Low sound transmission.
Although AAC on its own does have some disadvantages compared to brick or wood constructions:
  • Lower direct load capacity - i.e. cannot be really used to support structural loads, so some other building element needs to carry the load for them (i.e. a steel frame or suspended flooring). Although this being said Hebel do produce the PowerBlock system that claims to be load bearing in a certain configuration.
  • Low impact resistance - basically they break easily, so need to be 'wrapped' by structure that provides impact resistance.
  • Needs specialized glues and associated construction techniques.
  • Low intrinsic thermal mass - i.e. you cannot use AAC as part of a trombe wall or as part of the aggregate whole house thermal mass.
This been said; if the building is completely new and is of yet not built; this could be a viable option for you if you are looking to:
  1. Reduce you heating and cooling costs; i.e. you live in an environment where the temperature is constantly outside of the 'comfort' range;
  2. You need sound isolation from the external environment (i.e. major road close by).

Related Articles


Related Content Tags: passive cooling, internet, energy efficiency


Follow us on Facebook, click here!
Add Coment

Got a question or comment about this?

Find what you were looking for?.. Not quite what you expected?.. Got a question to ask people?
Share your thoughts and use the form below to post a public comment right on this page.


Simple HTML is supported i.e <b> <i> etc. Excessive inline URL's, spam, ANY ads or swearing is blocked/removed quickly. youtube URL's get embedded.

Posting Terms & Conditions