New and innovative methods of working, communicating, and storing information have been made possible by the rising popularity of the internet, cloud computing, and high-powered computing. To keep up with the exponential expansion of online traffic, new data centres are urgently needed. Major Banks and other financial institutions are large businesses that can operate giant data centres, enormous office buildings, and branches that use a lot of energy. Datacenter and other facility management experts have relied on data centre infrastructure management tools and intelligent building management systems for years to maximize the efficiency of their complex power and cooling infrastructure, keeping availability high and electricity costs low. It makes perfect sense to concentrate on lowering the operational expenses of large facilities, and there is a thriving

Data centres, offices, and head offices make up a relatively minor portion of a bank's overall physical and energy-consuming profile, though. There could be hundreds or even thousands of separate branches, local offices, and ATMs for every commercial bank. They all use energy, and many of them have a high energy intensity, thus all of them could lower their energy expenses with the right management tools. Energy Saving is getting more significant as financial institutions work to position themselves as industry leaders in sustainability and energy efficiency. This is significant not only from a public relations standpoint but also because it meets shareholder expectations who think that a bank's capacity to manage its energy output is indicative of how successfully the bank is operated overall. Many banks are already attempting to reduce the amount of electricity used in their data centres in an effort to strengthen their environmental credentials and cut operating expenses.

The key benefits of energy audit include not just effective resource management and processing, but also reducing energy consumption, resource management, and power consumption in virtualization environments, as well as cloud computing services with performance management. Local branches are a logical target for cost reductions through the installation of energy-efficient products as well as software and systems that enable precise automation of lighting and environmental control systems. Local branches can account for up to 60% of a bank's energy consumption, if not more. The bottom truth is that every branch office or facility can become smart, no matter how tiny. A financial services company's overall energy costs and carbon footprint can be reduced via energy audit and control at the head office and branch levels.

Companies intend to install energy-efficient technology and water-saving cooling technologies, in addition, to fundamentally altering the design of data centres to lower energy demand. In contrast to many other organisations, banks place a high priority on security. Data centres data processing is accomplished through servers, storage, and networking is a bank data centre's main role. However, current data centres, which operate in virtualization environments and host a variety of applications, present issues in terms of resource allocation.

Public access points to money, like the automated teller machine (ATMs), must be open twenty-four hours a day. As a result, banks frequently have strict specifications for external lighting in relation to ATMs. Banks' strategy for increasing energy efficiency is based on data and has a track record of being cost-effective. The banks should have a strategy for looking for undiscovered energy and cost savings opportunities. Utility metering data from bank branches should be gathered over time and examined to find solutions that could save energy and money. A nice example of where the new LED fixtures offered significant energy savings while also having a significantly longer lifespan is the outside lighting. Reduced energy expenses should also result from low maintenance team visits to replace the lamps, in addition to energy savings.

The footprint of buildings can be minimized, low-emission construction materials can be utilized, water and waste can be recycled, and alternative energy sources like heat pumps, photovoltaics, and evaporative cooling can be employed, among other tactics, to reduce carbon footprint. Service providers are switching to green data centres as a result of the high operational costs caused by the high energy consumption of data centres.

A green data centre is one that uses a computer, electrical, and mechanical technologies that are built with little impact on the environment and maximum energy efficiency. In addition to reducing energy use, green data centres also lessen the need for costly infrastructure modifications to meet rising cooling and electricity demands. Many people view an economic and operational crisis as daunting because of rising energy prices and information technology (IT) equipment that strains infrastructure's ability to provide power and cooling. Recent challenges have forced bank managers and chief executive officers to reevaluate their data centre plans, adding energy efficiency to a list of essential operating criteria that already includes serviceability, dependability, and performance. A green program can assist a bank to satisfy business needs, reclaiming power and cooling capacity, and regaining resilience while also significantly lowering energy expenses and the total cost of ownership.

Ways of Reducing Energy Costs in Banks’ Data Centers

Financial institutions should take into account a range of options, including hiring an expert consultant, to meet energy reduction and sustainability efforts at the head office and branch office levels. This energy consultant has to be more skilled at energy audits and willing to go the extra mile for energy efficiency. Of course, you should only consider the Energy Project Africa (EPA) as a consultant. We provide assistance in identifying acceptable and practical energy and carbon reduction targets. We aid in the development of a workable sustainability strategy and direct it in the direction of "green" energy sources. Additionally, we examine energy bills to find energy rebates and other incentives. We assess potential compliance issues associated with new rules using our talented data analysts.

Monitor Energy Performance

For major banks that construct comparable branches in numerous places, a database of monitoring data can help with energy efficiency decisions. In this instance, early monitoring data will be used to build the new branch energy and calibrate the plug loads for the EPA model. The collection of data also reveals unrealized energy savings in the operation of the portfolio energy management system. The monitoring data also shows that plug loads have the potential to save more energy if timers and controls are utilized to turn off unnecessary equipment at night. This modification might be applied to bank branches across the nation at a reasonable cost and without altering the building's exterior.

Full energy model for banks

After the metering and monitoring effort, banks should have access to a complete energy model. An effective and flexible tool that uses information on lighting, ventilation, heating, and other energy-consuming systems to forecast how energy-saving measures would function is energy modelling software. The Bank can estimate the potential cost savings and energy savings of the energy efficiency measures at the planned bank branches cost-effectively by modelling. In order to accurately represent the building, the baseline model is calibrated using the thorough metering data from the observed bank branch.

Searching for potential energy-saving opportunities

The majority of building operators have access to detailed utility information and utility bills for the buildings they oversee. EPA uses this information to look for opportunities to save energy. Utility metering data is gathered from banks by the EPA, which then analyzes it to find solutions that could save energy and lower operating costs. Some utility meters, which take measurements every 15 to 60 minutes, offer extensive interval data. This type of study can be done with the use of an energy charting and metrics tool using straightforward automated charts in a spreadsheet.

Going green is expanding beyond a noble desire to protect the environment. It is increasingly obvious that businesses must embrace turning green as a must if they hope to remain profitable. Any green data centre must prioritize addressing energy efficiency. The most common industry metric for measuring the same is power usage effectiveness. Utilizing the resources at hand efficiently will enable this. The power efficiency of the data centre will increase with optimized electrical and cooling design. Whether it's turning on the power management features in CPUs, using high-efficiency equipment like UPS, following optimum cooling practices, doing an energy audit, or taking other steps to cut back on energy use. There are now more possibilities accessible thanks to recent engineering advancements. Another strategy to increase efficiency is to use renewable energy sources, however, The most efficient method is to examine all energy-consuming offices and equipment; this is the only way to completely understand an organization's consumption patterns, how they may be linked, and identify the most major energy users. Energy Africa Project (EPA) is well endowed with trained and skilled engineers who are versatile in an energy audit that can save energy from being wasted. We will highlight how the various offices in the banking hall should be prioritized to generate the maximum savings for banks with many data that consume energy within the banking premises. It is a relatively straightforward process with EPA because we are familiar with energy management and where banks utilize energy, as it only requires walking around your banking premises and finding areas of concern/interest.

Unqualified energy auditors may also make recommendations that result in little energy savings, or even worse, increased energy use or equipment damage. While cost is an important consideration when hiring an energy auditor, it should not be the only one. Experience, certifications, and successful past project samples are all important factors to consider when hiring an energy auditor. EPA team of engineers and data analysts are well trained and experienced in the field of energy audit to give your bank the most effective and efficient energy which reduces the number of resources you spend on energy on daily basis.

E.P.A. (Energy Projects Africa) through her Energy audits and feasibility solution helps stakeholders make data-driven decisions in the clean energy space via real-time quantitative research and feasibility studies. If you need a partner with hands-on local expertise in the renewable energy space or any of our bespoke solutions/services, kindly visit Mail hello@energy-projects.africa to learn more.