An industry association pushing for adoption of direct-current (DC) power distribution systems in commercial buildings unveiled a standard for systems that feed 380V DC power straight to IT equipment in data centers and telecommunications buildings earlier this month.

The EMerge Alliance’s Data/Telecom Standard describes an integrated platform for power, infrastructure, peripheral device and control applications to facilitate hybrid use of alternative-current (AC) and DC power. The alliance says this method of distribution makes power management simpler than in traditionally designed AC-powered data centers.

Dennis Symanski, senior project manager at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and a committee chair within the alliance, said DC power distribution also improves reliability and reduces capital and operational expenses associated with building and running electrical infrastructure.

“The benefits are clear,” Symanski said. “By requiring fewer components and conversions than their AC counterparts, DC power systems in data centers suffer fewer heat related failures and require less space, energy, and maintenance to operate.

“DC power collection and distribution systems also simplify the use of locally generated power, providing an effective integration of on-site energy generation and storage with direct delivery of controlled power.”

Proponents of using 380V DC power distribution systems in data centers have claimed that by eliminating the need to convert electricity several times before it reaches IT equipment avoids conversion-related losses and reduces the amount of necessary equipment.

Power supplies in majority of IT products on the market, however, are not designed to accept high-voltage DC power, which means data center users who want such power distribution systems need to have power supplies in their IT gear replaced.

The idea has been controversial within the data center industry, and high-voltage DC systems have not enjoyed widespread adoption. Nevertheless, the EMerge Alliance has more than 100 vendors as its members, many of whom are some of the largest sellers into the data center space.

The alliance set up a demonstration of the standard at a recent industry event in San Francisco, using products by some of its member companies. The vendors included ABB, APP, Delta, Emerson, Hubbell, NEI, Starline and Intel.

Brian Patterson, the organization’s chairman, said DC power was important in reducing energy consumption of buildings. “DC power is a key component in net-zero-energy buildings,” he said.