If you’ve been following some of my Big Data coverage on Enterprise Apps Today, then you know that it’s kind of a big deal in IT circles lately. And true to its name, storing, processing and analyzing Big Data takes some pretty big IT infrastructure, which in turn results in big, power-hungry data centers.

Or does it?

An energy management startup called Vigilent, has raised $6.7 million from Accel Partners — specifically from its new Big Data fund– to expand into new markets and further its sensor-based, energy saving tech with new hires. The company currently boasts more than 90 deployments in the United States, Canada and Japan.

VentureBeat’s Sean Ludwig explains how it works:

The company deploys wireless sensors in data centers and crunches all kinds of numbers to find ways to optimize energy efficiency. Vigilent negotiates a certain temperature with the company running the data center and works to come up with the best possible way to keep the center at that temperature.

That’s a pretty novel way of selling energy management. And not only can Vigilent help IT shops that are struggling with Big Data lower their energy costs, but the company is also pitching itself as a Big Data play of sorts.

In a company statement, Vigilent’s CEO, Mark Housley says, “We leverage big data analytics to intelligently and proactively optimize energy efficiency in automated, real-time response to changing conditions.”

Image credit: Flickr user NeoSpire – CC