The Association of Municipal Enterprises (VKU) has awarded the Blue DC data center of the Cologne data center specialist High Knowledge with the VKU Innovation Prize. In the category "Municipal Water and Wastewater Management", "The blue data center", which High Knowledge planned and built for a municipal water supplier in Bavaria, received the coveted prize from the jury. According to the top-class VKU jury, Blue DC is an "excellent example of the spirit of innovation".
“We are delighted to receive this award,” says High Knowledge Managing Director Harry Knopf. “It shows how much can be achieved sustainably through sensible synergies.” The Cologne-based data centre specialist is responsible for the project's design and implementation, using Blue DC solutions. Alongside planned protection measures and a redundant power supply, an intelligent system cools the servers and IT equipment. Linking the facility to a waterworks offers substantial synergies. The innovative cooling technology of the Blue Data Centre keeps electricity consumption low, while its energy storage systems enable the integration of renewable energy. Photovoltaic or wind power systems, for example, can supply electricity. Waste heat from the servers can also be used as process heat. At certain times of year, for instance, it can raise the temperature of drinking water without requiring additional external energy for that purpose. The operator also uses part of the facility's waste heat to heat its vehicle hall. The energy and emissions effects of this integration must be assessed against actual operating data and the reference supply assumed.
The article reported in 2023 on the award of the Blue Angel label to this specific data centre; this does not confer blanket permission to use the label for other Blue DC projects. The facility also has a fully redundant design, providing a high level of resilience. Its construction is entirely modular. This allows the availability and protection class, as well as the size, to be selected and scaled to the required parameters.
The innovative concept of the project was honored by the top-class jury of the VKU this year. “The award winners are outstanding examples of the innovative spirit with which municipal companies strengthen services of general interest. They impressively show how we can master the challenges of climate change and the energy transition with the help of creativity, innovation and digitization," said VKU President and Jury Chairman Dr. Ulf Kampfer at the award ceremony.
The innovation prize has been awarded every two years since 2011 to outstanding and sustainable municipal projects. With the prize, the VKU, as the leading association of the municipal economy, promotes the role model function of innovative municipal companies. The winners are good examples of a modern municipal economy. The composition of the jury was outstanding and underscores the importance of the prize. Among others, the parliamentary state secretary at the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, BMWK, Stefan Wenzel, Prof. Dr. Katharina Hölzle, MBA, Head of the Institute for Ergonomics and Technology Management (IAT) at the University of Stuttgart and member of the institute management at the cooperating Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering and Organization IAO, Klaus Hinkel, Editor-in-Chief Economics & Politics (Head), newspaper for municipal economy ( ZfK ) and Marion Walsmann , MEP, for the CDU in the EPP Group of the European Parliament on the winners of this year's award.
"Of course, we are very honored that the jury voted in favor of our project," said Managing Director Knopf. “The award is also a nice recognition of our cooperation with the municipal provider. I am therefore certain that we will continue to launch similar sustainable projects in the future.”
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