International Review of Energy Efficiency in Data Centres

Page | 060

aPPEnDix 8. DEscriPtiOns OF rEgulatiOns, cErtiFicatiOn anD OtHEr initiativEs
carbon tax) in return for meeting energy or carbon
efficiency targets agreed between Government and
sectors.18 The scheme is operated by the Environ-
ment Agency for the UK Government (Department
for Business, Energy and industrial Strategy). Or-
ganisations participate in the agreement via the
relevant trade association, in this case techUK,
via an Umbrella Agreement (Environment Agency
2017). The Agreement is only open to Colos. The
sector target for data centres is a 15% reduction
in PUE by 2020 from the base year (techUK 2017).
Eu code of conduct on Data centre
Energy Efficiency
The EU Code of Conduct (CoC) was started in
2008 and is operated by the Joint Research Council
(JRC), part of the European Commission.19 There
are currently (July 2021) over 400 participants.
Organisations can apply to join the CoC as par-
ticipants (owners and operators of data centres) or
as endorsers (committing to support the Code and
participants through the development of products,
information, services, education or other programs)
(JRC 2021b).
Participants sign a registration form, through
which they commit to conduct an initial energy
audit to identify the major energy saving opportuni-
ties, prepare and submit an action plan and imple-
ment this plan according to the agreed timetable.
Energy consumption must be monitored regularly
to see overtime progress in the energy efficiency
indicator related to the data centre. All Participants
are required to follow the best practice guidelines
(Acton et al 2021) which are updated annually,
and to report against these guidelines annually.
They have an obligation to continuously monitor
energy consumption and adopt energy manage-
ment in order to look for continuous improvement
in energy efficiency. One of the key objectives of
the CoC is that each participant benchmark their
efficiency over time, using the CoC metrics in order
to produce evidence of continuous improvement in
efficiency. Analyses of data submitted by partici-
pants from 2009 to 2016 are reported in Avgerinou
et al 2017.
In addition, every year data centres that have
adopted innovative technologies to improve
their energy efficiency and have demonstrated
outstanding improvements are given the Code
of Conduct Data Centre Award. The criteria for
the winners are the reduced need for mechanical
cooling of the data centre for most of the time and
raised indoor temperature. These are among the
most important measures to improve efficiency
and reduce energy consumption.
Energy efficiency targets (expressed as PUE)
are complemented by general commitments to
monitor power and energy consumption, adopt
good management practices, increasing IT uti-
lisation, switching off components not needed,
and reducing energy consumption where possible.
Eu climate neutral Data center
Pact
This is a self-regulatory initiative by the EU data
centre industry. Cloud Infrastructure Service Pro-
viders in Europe (CISPE) and the European Data
Centre Alliance (EUDCA) have created a govern-
ance coalition known as the Climate Neutral Data
Centre Pact.20 Signatories to the Pact may be trade
associations representing data centre operators
or companies that own or operate data centres
within the European Union. Beginning January 1,
2021 representatives from the data centre trade
associations and companies that have signed the
initiative, and the European Commission will meet
twice annually to review the status of this initiative.
By no later than July 1, 2023, signatories will certify
adherence.
Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact (2021) states
the requirements are:
1 Energy efficiency, using PUE as a metric
2 Matching electricity use by purchasing clean
energy (clean energy)
3 Setting and meeting ambitious targets for water
usage effectiveness
4 Increasing the quantity of server materials
repaired or reused and creating a target per-
centage for repair and reuse (circular economy)
5 Exploring possibilities to interconnect with dis-
trict heating systems and other users of heat
18. UK Government guidance on Climate change agreements.
19. JRC data centre code of conduct
20. CNDCP rules
60 INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN DATA CENTRES