UIDAI gets ‘greenest’ Data Center at Manesar

Industrial town Manesar in Haryana, which is one of the fastest growing cities in the country, can now boast itself for one more reason – for having the most ‘Green’ and ‘Energy efficient’ Data Center for Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).

Chief Minister of Haryana Bhupinder Singh Hooda today laid the foundation stone of UIDAI’s Data Centre at Manesar in the presence of Nandan Nilekani, Chairman of UIDAI, Rao Inderjit Singh, Member of Parliament and R.S. Sharma, Director General & Mission Director, UIDAI. 

The state-of-the-art Data Centre, to be completed by June 2014, will come up in five acres and will be the energy efficient as per global standards and guidelines. The Data Center will be equipped to provide 24X7 monitoring and operation support. 

The Centre will be reviewed by Uptime Institute, USA for a Tier III certification, while the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) will review the facility for the purpose of awarding a Gold Rating LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) for green building. 

The average annual Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of the Data Center is estimated to be less than 1.6, making it one of the most ‘Green’ and ‘Energy efficient’ Data Centers in the country, a government communique said. 

Further to ensure utmost security, the Data Centre will be housed in a blast proof concrete structure adhering to the respective IS code and design as per Seismic Zone-IV compliance requirements. To ensure uninterrupted operations, modular and scalable systems will be designed that would provide seamless integration to support future load expansion, even supporting 1.6 billion enrolments that are estimated by 2030. Also, the Data Centre complex shall house a building to accommodate UIDAI Biometric Centre of Competence (UBCC) and National Training Facilities of UIDAI. 

Other key features that distinguish this Center are its adherence to the latest design guidelines such as ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers) for cooling compliance, NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) for Fire and Security compliances, TIA 942 (Telecommunication Industry Association) for Data Centers and SMACNA (Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors` National Association) guidelines for improved indoor air quality. 

Being a Green Data Center, the design of the building emphasises on 100% treatment of waste water for effective utilization in HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning), horticulture & flushing and rainwater harvesting. Double Glazed Unit and insulated roofing make the building ‘energy efficient’. Lighting integrated motion sensors, use of LED fittings, variable speed fans on AHU, Heat Recovery, Free cooling, efficient chillers, efficient cooling solutions and UPS, zero use of CFC based refrigerant, use of low VOC materials in interiors & finishes etc. are the some of the other key features of the Data Centre complex. In the future, UIDAI will also look at the possibility of using renewable sources of energy such as solar energy.