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Government Organizations in Three Continents Choose Green Grid PUE Metric for Measuring Data Center Efficiency

March 02, 2011 by Jeff Shepard

The Green Grid Association announced that the Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) metric, created and promoted by The Green Grid, was established by a cross-regional global task force as the recommended metric for consistently determining energy efficiency in dedicated data center facilities.

The ongoing collaborative effort, called "Harmonizing Global Metrics for Data Center Energy Efficiency," is focused on improving data center energy efficiency and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission efficiencies. Participating organizations included the U.S. Department of Energy’s Save Energy Now and Federal Energy Management Programs, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR Program, European Commission JRC Code of Conduct, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Japan’s Green IT Promotion Council, and The Green Grid.

"PUE has become the globally-accepted method for data center operators to measure and improve their data center infrastructure energy efficiency," said Mukesh Khattar, Oracle representative and Board member of The Green Grid. "Data center operators in the U.S., Europe, and Japan should move forward with confidence in knowing that they have a consistent way to calculate and communicate the energy efficiency of their infrastructure."

The task force will continue to collaborate in the years ahead to ensure that data center resource efficiency and productivity is delivered as consistently as possible across regions.

The PUE metric determines the amount of energy used by a data center facility and the IT gear inside of it. The Green Grid has recently announced additional metrics to complement PUE, including Carbon Usage Effectiveness (CUE) and Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE), designed to help data center operators assess the sustainability of their facilities.

The Green Grid, which encourages worldwide industry collaboration, is actively working on dozens of strategic and tactical projects to improve data center resource efficiency. In addition to a library of white papers, The Green Grid has made the following PUE-related tools available free of charge to the data center community:

– Online Courses from The Green Grid Academy

The Green Grid Academy has launched two award-winning self-directed online courses to help data center managers and operators get familiar with industry lexicon and solutions to everyday data center challenges, including instructions on using PUE in improving energy efficiency.

– PUE Reporting Database

The Green Grid’s PUE Reporting Database is an online form that allows data center operators to report their own PUE, and compare it to other facilities across a variety of parameters and regions.

– PUE Estimator Online Tool

The Green Grid’s PUE Estimator is an interactive online tool that allows data center operators to easily input their facility’s specific data to determine their PUE.