Emailing "Groups Move Towards Data Center Efficiency Rating Standardization"
Up until now, it's been quite a challenge to determine the veracity of claims by various companies about how green their data centers are. The recent Facebook flap, for example, where Facebook claimed it was building the world's greenest data center only to be publicly boycotted by Greenpeace, is a good example. Part of the problem has been a lack of agreement on how to measure a data center's green credentials. In the physical space where data centers are located, the US Green Building Council's LEED standards have made a difference in pushing the industry towards more efficient buildings. In terms of the efficiency of the operations within that space, however, there isn't a clear standard in the industry. Without that standard, the industry is essentially left to its own marketing devices to make whatever claims it likes.
That may soon be changing. A coalition of groups is now closely examining the issue of how to measure green feature in
data centers, with the goal of establishing a common rating system. The system will utilize PUE, or Power Usage Effectiveness, as the measure. PUE compares total data center power versus IT power used, and the groups, which include the Green Grid and the EPA, are establishing metrics on how those measurement are to be taken.
The EPA is also leading an effort to establish an "Energy Star" rating for
data centers. This has been in the works for over a year now, and the EPA hopes to launch the program this spring. The rating system will be based on PUE, although PUE won't be the only metric in the score. Data centers will be able to conduct self-ratings to earn a score of 0-100, and companies earning above 75 can request an audit to earn the
Energy Star rating. The
Green Grid has a similar rating system for calculating PUE, but the systems are slightly different in that the EPA system measures energy used. The EPA system does not take into account free
cooling or redundancy but the EPA believes its system is still very accurate.
These are all good moves. They won't avoid the Facebook-style controversy since PUE doesn't consider whether the energy used by data center comes from renewable sources, but the raw amount of energy used and how efficiently it is used is something that must be measured if data centers are going to be kept honest about their green credentials. The PUE rating by Green Grid and the Energy Star by EPA will go a long way towards establishing some truth and transparency in the claims we are seeing today.