The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is preparing an Energy Star rating system for data centers that will allow operators to assess their energy use relative to industry peers.
The rating system is tentatively scheduled for release in early 2010, according to a Computerworld report, written by Michael Zatz, who is manager of Energy Star commercial buildings at the EPA.
Data centers currently use about 1.5% of all the electricity produced in the U.S. and that amount is expected to double over the next five years.
The Energy Star system will rate centers from 1 to 100, through an online energy-benchmarking tool. A score of 75 or higher means the facility is in the top 25% in terms of energy efficiency, qualifying the data center for an Energy Star label.
Zatz explains that the rating will be based on a ratio of total facility energy use to energy used by the IT equipment–a metric known as PUE or DCiE.
The EPA eventually hopes to use the system to compare output or work from data centers with energy use.
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