Despite Google’s reputation as a ‘green’ corporate giant, the California-based search company is fighting back against new power regulations that would cause significant problems for their air conditioner data centres. Claiming that they do not object to energy guidelines and targets, Google’s vice president of operations Urs Hoelzle described the new guidelines as too “prescriptive” and difficult to work within. 
Google’s data centres use significant amounts of power, despite coming in below the industry average for data storage resources. The company uses large air conditioning systems and cooling strategies to ensure that their servers remain stable, which engineers believe could be affected by restrictive new guidelines.
Google’s certainly not alone in objecting to the new list of energy guidelines. Software giant Microsoft, online retailer Amazon, and a range of other technology companies have protested the guidelines, claiming that their air conditioning suggestions are too specific, and fail to provide reasonable space for data centres to work within.
With online business remaining powerful throughout the economic recession, it appears that the complaints of Google and others could be a powerful message to air conditioning service providers and energy boards. Despite remaining green, few technology companies like being told how to operate.