More cost-conscious companies are coming to the conclusion that improving energy efficiency means saving money.

Perhaps nowhere is this more important than in data centers, which are the digital factories of the new millennium.

Such a development has occupied the attention of a burgeoning Auburn-based “green” company.

Established in 2003, Smart Works is taking flight to help clients discover and emphasize energy- and cost-saving methods of doing business.

Smart Works is developing products – from high-resolution inline energy metering and branch circuit energy metering to environmental monitoring all with intelligent network connectivity – designed to improve energy efficiency and save a buck.

“Everything is moving in our direction,” said Dan Diesso, founder and CEO. “There now is an urgency … customers are interested in going “green” because it can save them a lot of money.”

As Diesso points out, growing energy supply problems along with the threat of global warming have increased the awareness and need for improving energy efficiency.

Data centers can consume 100 times the power of a similar-sized office building, Diesso pointed out. The high-energy usage of these facilities – along with practices that have focused on reliability rather than efficiency – have lead to extremely wasteful operations.

“One of the biggest obstacles to finding the waste among the thousands of circuits supplying power in these facilities is a lack of monitoring,” Diesso explained.

Smart Works has developed a line of circuit and device level energy meters with input from customers like Microsoft, IBM, Rackable Systems and others that are addressing this problem.

Locally, Microsoft is driving to improve its energy efficiency. One of the many steps the software giant is taking to improve the efficiency of its data centers is deploying a new line of Smart Works power strips that can accurately monitor energy usage down to the outlet level. These capabilities allow improved circuit utilization and allow energy to be billed back to individual business units based on actual usage, creating an ongoing incentive to improve energy efficiency by those responsible for using it, Diesso said.

“It gives our customers the ability to see the mpg of each server, if you will,” Diesso said.

Jody Short, a service engineer for Microsoft, has noticed a significant difference in the company’s energy consumption since hooking up up with Smart Works products more than a year ago.

“The equipment has helped me get results,” Short said. “By right-sizing our power, of course, we have a better idea of what we are dealing with consumption wise … and it helps us plan our usage.”

In addition, Smart Works offers environmental monitoring for data centers, providing economical solutions that are compatible with its energy metering products. Such devices provide temperature, humidity and dew point metering – essential to maintaining the operational reliability of IT equipment. Smart-Sense sensors are designed and deployed so a facility can save energy and improve uptime.

The company is making steps as it builds product marketing and clientele. Smart Works has customers throughout the nation, with some modest international business.

What’s good for business is good for the environment.

“It’s very green environmentally, but also very green economically,” Diesso said.

To learn more, please visit www.smart-works.com. Smart Works is located at 3902 West Valley Highway North, Suite 110, Auburn. For more information, call 253-735-0552.