EU's code of conduct for energy efficient data centres

The European Commission has made public a voluntary Code of Conduct for operating an energy efficient data centre. The package includes guidelines, recommendations and an inventory of good practices that could reduce energy usage by up to 20%.

Data Centres have consumed an estimated 56 TWh in Western Europe during 2007 - comparable to the electricity production of Greece (EuroStat Data 2004). This amount is projected to increase to 104 TWh per year by 2020 if no actions are taken.

The Best Practices document takes account of a number of simple measures that can reduce energy usage by data centres. The creation of “virtual servers”, the reduction of overcooling and the use of natural cooling are a few examples.

The UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and companies such as BT, Telecity Group, IOMart, Quest Software and Microsoft have already indicated intentions to sign up to the Code of Conduct. The Green Grid – a global consortium dedicated to advancing energy efficiency in data centers – has also demonstrated its support.

According to the UK Market Transformation Programme, if UK companies adopt the code, they could save around £700 million in electricity costs in the next six years. This would also avoid the emission of around 4.7 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions.