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4: The Government’s Role—Regulation and EPA Activity 63

■ Standardized performance measurement for data centers: Data cen-
ter operators need standard metrics to assess and report the energy per-
formance of their facilities. The federal government and industry should
work together to develop an objective, credible energy performance rat-
ing system for data centers, initially addressing the infrastructure portion
but extending, when possible, to include a companion metric for the pro-
ductivity and work output of IT equipment. These metrics should
account for differences in data centers in areas such as computing output
and availability requirements.
■ Federal leadership: The federal government can act as a model in
encouraging improved data center efficiency. The government should
commit to publicly reporting the energy performance of its data centers
when standardized metrics are available; conducting energy-efficiency
assessments in all its data centers within two to three years; and imple-
menting all cost-effective operational improvements. Additionally, the
Architect of the Capitol should implement the server-related recommen-
dations from the Greening of the Capitol report (Beard 2007).
■ Private-sector challenge: The federal government should issue a chal- ptg
lenge to private-sector chief executive officers (CEOs) to conduct DOE
Save Energy Now energy-efficiency assessments, implement improve-
ments, and report energy performance of their data centers. These assess-
ments require protocols and tools that should be jointly developed by
government and industry.
■ Information on best practices: Objective, credible information is
needed about the performance of new technologies and about best prac-
tices, as well as the effect of both on data center availability. This infor-
mation can help raise awareness of energy-efficiency issues in this sector
and reduce the perceived risk of energy-efficiency improvements in data
centers. The government should partner with industry to develop and
publish information on field demonstrations and case studies of best prac-
tices. This information should be disseminated as part of a campaign to
make data center managers aware of the benefits of energy efficiency in
addressing power and cooling constraints in data centers.
■ Standardized performance measurement for data center equip-
ment: Purchasers of data center equipment, such as servers, storage, net-
work equipment, and Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPSs), need