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The Greening of IT
64 How Companies Can Make a Difference for the Environment

objective, credible energy performance information if they are to purchase
efficient products.
♦ The federal government should work with industry to develop objec-
tive, credible energy performance metrics for this equipment.
♦ Using these metrics, the government should also investigate whether
development of ENERGY STAR specifications for these product cate-
gories would be an effective strategy to complement the whole-facility
approaches previously outlined.
♦ If ENERGY STAR specifications are developed, federal procurement
specifications that build on ENERGY STAR should be implemented.
■ Research and development: The federal government, in collaboration
with industry, universities, electric utilities, and other stakeholders,
should initiate a comprehensive research and development (R&D) pro-
gram to develop technologies and practices for data center energy effi-
ciency. Specific research should be included in the following topics:
computing software, IT hardware, power conversion, heat removal, con-
trols and management, and cross-cutting activities.
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■ Public and private partnership for energy efficiency in data centers:
The federal government should engage stakeholders to formulate a com-
mon initiative (including public policies and private-sector actions) to
promote energy efficiency in data centers to continue the dialogue that
this report initiates. Logical next steps would include defining priorities
for the various strategies outlined in this report, developing timelines,
defining roles for the various stakeholders, and identifying gaps and
issues that require further assessment.

In addition to these near-term actions, several other actions can also play
an important role in saving energy used by servers and data centers:

■ Federal Government:
♦ Develop a procurement specification for the energy performance of
outsourced data centers.
♦ Work with industry to develop better tools, such as life-cycle risk
models and total cost of ownership models that incorporate energy
costs, for management of energy in data centers.
♦ Separately meter all federally owned data centers with significant
energy use.