Stream's latest green data center: Deep in the heart of Texas

OK, so I'm in San Antonio and the first set of notes that I grabbed this morning when trying to figure out what to write about were about this city, I guess that tells me something.

In any event, you might not think of Texas as the most friendly place for a data center -- it was 102 degrees Fahrenheit when I arrived here last night, which doesn't seem all that great when it comes to keeping IT equipment cool. But according to Stream Data Centers, San Antonio in particular is making a bid to become known for this segment of the IT industry.

Stream has taken advantage of this climate (the business climate, not necessarily the natural climate) by building a ready-to-fit data center shell/co-location facility that recently received a Silver certification under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program. The facility sits on about 33 acres and the current shell is 150,000 square feet, expandable up to 350,000 square feet.

Anthony Bolner, senior vice president of Stream, says one of the things that helped Stream to build its site about 15 minutes from downtown San Antonio in Westover Hills included the relatively inexpensive power available from CPS Energy, which provides two 30 megawatt feeds. Although I am not personally thrilled that about 36 percent of the power in San Antonio is from nuclear generation, the capacity from renewable sources such as wind is on the rise. It's about 11 percent now, and 20 percent is supposed to be provided by renewable sources by the year 2020.

Another major factor is the city's huge focus on viable uses for recycled water, which is feeding Stream's innovative cooling system and is a key factor for green data centers, according to Bolner.

So, what other companies have sited their data center in San Antonio? A brochure provided by Stream shows that other companies that have been inspired by the climate in Westover Hills include Microsoft, which has its own 300-megawatt substation; Valero Energy, Frost Bank and Lowe's.