Facilities and Site Selection Flashcards
7 cards from real CEM practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Facilities and Site Selection flashcards as text
A CEM is analyzing two candidate sites for a data center. Site A is in a cool northern climate; Site B is in a warm southern climate. Assuming similar electricity rates, which site offers a structural energy efficiency advantage and why?
Answer: Site A, because the cooler climate enables more hours of economizer (free cooling) operation, reducing mechanical cooling energy
Cooler climates provide more annual hours when outdoor air or water-side economizers can cool the data center without mechanical refrigeration, directly reducing PUE and energy cost.
What does a Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) ratio of 1.0 indicate for a data center facility?
Answer: All facility power is used exclusively by IT equipment with zero overhead energy loss
PUE = Total Facility Energy / IT Equipment Energy; a PUE of 1.0 means 100% of energy goes to IT loads with no cooling, lighting, or UPS losses — a theoretical ideal.
During site selection due diligence, a CEM discovers that a candidate site is located in an area with high seismic activity. What energy infrastructure concern is most relevant?
Answer: Utility gas and electrical service interruptions following seismic events may require costly on-site backup energy systems
Seismic events can sever utility gas and electric service; facilities in high-seismic zones often must invest in substantial on-site backup generation and fuel storage for resilience.
A facility is being planned adjacent to a river. Beyond flood risk, which energy-related opportunity should a CEM evaluate at this site?
Answer: Use of river water as a heat sink or source for water-source HVAC systems
River water at relatively stable temperatures can serve as a heat sink for cooling systems or a heat source for heat pumps, significantly reducing HVAC energy consumption.
Which metric best quantifies the financial impact of energy price volatility risk when comparing two candidate facility sites with different fuel mixes?
Answer: Coefficient of variation of historical energy prices for each dominant fuel type
The coefficient of variation (standard deviation / mean) of historical fuel prices measures price volatility relative to average cost, allowing direct comparison of financial risk across fuel types.
A facility planning team is considering a site in a state with a carbon cap-and-trade program. How should a CEM incorporate this into the site's life-cycle cost analysis?
Answer: Include projected carbon allowance costs or credit revenues as an annual operating line item over the analysis period
Cap-and-trade compliance costs or revenues affect operating budgets annually; including them in the LCCA as projected line items ensures the true long-term cost of the site is captured.
When evaluating a site for a process manufacturing facility, which utility reliability metric is most critical to quantify for energy cost risk management?
Answer: System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI) for the serving utility
SAIDI measures the average total duration of interruptions per customer per year; high SAIDI values signal unreliable power that can cause costly process shutdowns and necessitate expensive backup generation.