Meeting EU Green Deal Data Center Requirements with DCIM Software
Europe is currently striving to be the first climate neutral continent by introducing a package of policy initiatives called the European Union’s (EU) Green Deal. This deal was introduced in 2019 and focuses on reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels.
The Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) was also launched which aims to decrease energy usage by 11.7% by 2030. Starting in May 2024, data centers that use more than 500kW are legally required to report on energy consumption metrics from the previous year into a European database.
In 2018, data centers accounted for 2.7% of electricity usage across the EU and could rise to 32.1% under current trends if nothing is done to shrink consumption. The EU Green Deal is hoping to be the solution to the continent’s sustainability concerns.
Following data center sustainability best practices is important for data center managers because their efforts can add up to a positive impact on the environment while still providing reliable and secure data center services. The production and use of energy across economic sectors accounted for more than 75% of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2021 making it vital to drastically reduce energy consumption.
Intelligent data center operators leverage modern Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) software to put the best practices into effect. A DCIM tool is a great gateway to helping data centers reach their sustainability goals and meet the new EU Green Deal and EED requirements.
Understanding EU Green Deal Data Center Requirements
The EU Green Deal is a revolutionary group of initiatives that support the EU’s commitment to the Paris Agreement which includes the ultimate goal of climate neutrality by 2050.
There are over 100 data center operators and trade associations committed to the EU Green Deal like the Climate Neutral Data Center. This organization is dedicated to purchasing carbon-free energy, recycling heat, and optimizing water consumption.
The Climate Neutral Data Center Pact is focused on reducing data centers’ Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) to 1.4 since newer facilities currently operate around 1.5 and older data centers may run at 2 or more.
Another policy that went into effect in late 2023 is the German Energy Efficiency Act. This act will require all data centers that start operations before July 1, 2026 to sustain a PUE of 1.5 or lower by 2027, and eventually 1.3 PUE or lower by 2030. Any data center that begin operations after July 1, 2026, must function at a 1.2 PUE or lower.
EU Green Deal Reporting Requirements
A main aspect of the EU Green Deal and the EED are the mandatory reporting requirements that go into effect in May 2024.
An organization’s written reporting should include the following metrics from the ISO/IEC 30134 international standard series (or EN 50600 equivalent):
- Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE)
- Renewable Energy Factor (REF)
- Energy Reuse Factor (ERF)
- Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE)
- Data Center Infrastructure Efficiency (DCiE)
- Carbon Usage Effectiveness (CUE)
- Temperature set points
- Waste heat utilization
Data center managers will also have to report the following under the EED:
- Floor area
- Installed power
- Amount of data stored and processed within the data center
- Annual incoming and outgoing traffic
These new industry standards and reporting obligations must be taken seriously by all European data centers. Failure to comply could result in a fine of €50,000-100,000 depending on the violation. Additionally, companies could face legal consequences or reputational damage from not submitting the proper data metrics.
The Role of DCIM Software in Simplifying EU Green Deal Compliance
DCIM software is a solution that can help support some of the EU Green Deal and EED’s data center requirements. DCIM software provides data center managers with a centralized monitoring, management, and optimization tool that helps improve operational efficiency and simplify compliance reporting.
Modern DCIM software aligns with the EU Green Deal and EED’s objectives and requirements via:
Energy Monitoring and Reporting
DCIM software plays a pivotal role in enabling data center managers to meet the requirements of the EU Green Deal and the EED through robust energy monitoring and reporting capabilities.
First, DCIM software facilitates real-time data center power monitoring, providing data center professionals with a comprehensive understanding of their facility's energy consumption. DCIM software collects live measured readings from sources such as intelligent rack PDUs and building meters, meeting EU Green Deal requirements for metering incoming energy and IT energy consumption. Additionally, DCIM tracks critical environmental parameters like temperature, humidity, and airflow, enabling proactive detection and remediation of issues.
DCIM provides centralized data collection and documentation that simplifies the reporting of data center energy KPIs. By offering a single platform for data gathering and logging of metrics like energy consumption and temperature logs, DCIM software facilitates compliance reporting as outlined in the EU Green Deal.
Energy dashboard charts and reports enable faster tracking and reporting of sustainability progress. Data center managers can monitor real-time PUE across all sites and assess the impact of efficiency initiatives over time. Other KPIs such as carbon footprint, delta-T per cabinet, stranded power capacity per rack, cabinet temperature, and energy cost per business unit are readily accessible. These metrics can be shared and analyzed via automated email reports, portals, or secure links with customizable access controls, providing deeper insights into energy efficiency initiatives.
Increasing Energy Efficiency
DCIM software offers several ways to reduce energy consumption within data centers, aligning with the ambitious objectives towards carbon neutrality outlined in the EU Green Deal and the Energy Efficiency Directive.
One area where DCIM software excels is in optimizing cooling efficiency. By meticulously monitoring temperatures and adjusting cooling settings based on easy-to-understand cooling charts, data center managers can ensure that cooling resources are precisely aligned with actual needs. This prevents energy waste from overcooling, tackling one of the most significant contributors of excessive energy consumption within data centers.
DCIM software can also identify ghost servers. Through built-in reports, DCIM software can pinpoint servers drawing minimal power over time. By shutting down these ghost servers, data center managers can reduce energy waste, further bolstering their efforts towards energy efficiency.
DCIM software also offers a way to enhance the efficiency of virtual environments. By integrating with VMware, DCIM software facilitates streamlined virtual machine management. This integration enables the mapping of virtual machines to their physical hosts. Moving virtual machines to the most energy-efficient servers minimizes energy consumption.
Furthermore, DCIM software empowers data center managers to drive more efficient behavior through comprehensive energy cost reports. These reports provide valuable insights into energy consumption by data center, business unit, or application, enabling the creation of accurate billback reports that identify power hogs and encourage more sustainable practices.
Optimizing Resource Utilization
Maximizing resource utilization within data centers is essential for reducing waste and advancing towards sustainability goals, aligning with the objectives of the EU Green Deal and the EED. DCIM software offers actionable insights that enable data-driven decision-making leading to more efficient facilities.
For example, automatic device power budgeting helps data center managers safely deploy more servers in existing cabinet resources, minimizing stranded capacity and deferring the build out of new data centers.
In addition, DCIM software provides what-if analysis charts, allowing data center managers to simulate the impact of adding new equipment or modifying configurations on rack space and power capacity. This proactive approach may allow data center managers to confidently utilize existing resources and defer the need for additional capacity.
Intelligent capacity search functionality enabling data center managers to quickly identify the ideal cabinet for new deployments. By entering a server model, data center managers can instantly locate cabinets with sufficient space, power, and connectivity, streamlining the deployment process and optimizing resource allocation.
Correlated capacity reporting provides a comprehensive overview of rack capacity in 2D or 3D formats. By identifying areas of underutilization or uneven distribution, data center managers can make informed decisions regarding workload redistribution, server consolidation, or equipment configuration adjustments to maximize energy efficiency and resource utilization.
DCIM software offers pre-configured dashboards with real-time capacity gauge charts for space, power, cooling, and ports, facilitating easy evaluation of available capacity.
Finally, built-in power circuit intelligence allows data center managers to understand the power load and capacity at each breaker in the power circuit. This insight ensures the safe deployment of additional equipment without risking upstream breaker trips, enhancing operational efficiency and resource utilization.
Real-World DCIM Case Studies
Customers like Vodafone actively use DCIM software to drive sustainability in their data centers around the globe. Vodafone has a sprawling infrastructure across many sites and struggled to have a holistic understanding of their environment and capacity in order to reduce energy consumption and increase utilization.
Senior Manager for Infrastructure and Data Centers for Vodafone in the UK, Andrew Marsh, says that they wanted more insight into power usage, cooling, and data and power connections as well as a dashboard full of KPIs with charts. Vodafone started the search for a comprehensive platform that possessed visualization, an easy-to-use dashboard, an asset inventory, and in-depth reporting capabilities and found Sunbird’s DCIM solution.
After implementing a DCIM software, Vodafone was able to measure and track power usage in real-time to see power utilization trends and capacity levels across all power paths. A modern DCIM solution also allows Vodafone to evaluate rack space and equipment, collect, trend, and report on data from temperature sensors which lets managers make faster and more informed sustainability decisions.
“Sunbird provides the ability to measure, monitor, and document what is actually happening in our data centers. Then, we can implement things to keep the costs down,” said Marsh.
Amidst the EU Green Deal, Vodafone is on track to improve sustainability in their UK sites by leveraging a DCIM software, building solar farms and wind turbines, and using free air cooling to reduce carbon footprint.
Comcast is one of the largest ISPs in the US and worked with Sunbird over the years to greatly improve their data center resource utilization.
Comcast noticed that they could significantly reduce operating costs by identifying space and power resources that were not utilized to their full capacity. “You’re paying for power and space up-front, so it’s a matter of how much you can get out of those resources,” says Michael Piers, Senior Manager DCIM/Tools at Comcast. Piers also states how you can’t be sure how much power you can get from a power feed without measuring it and how utilizing any stranded capacity found is important since you’re already paying for it.
Comcast uses Sunbird’s DCIM software to monitor power utilization trends and capacity levels across their power circuits, including building meters, floor PDUs, busways, and intelligent rack PDUs. Comcast also uses Sunbird to automate device power budgeting, which has resulted in a 40% increase in utilization of existing resources.
Bringing It All Together
In wake of Europe’s crack down on sustainability and green energy, data centers are faced with multiple new requirements challenges starting this year. Not complying with the EU Green Deal guidelines can result in financial penalties, legal sanctions, and backlash.
In order to support these sustainability and energy efficiency efforts, leading data center mangers are using DCIM software.
While 2024 just started, 2030 isn’t that far away and one of Europe’s main objectives is to get all data centers on track to meet the reduced greenhouse gas emission goal. In addition to the EU Green Deal, the EED, the Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact, and the Code of Conduct will help enforce this new industry standard of operations.
Want to see more on how Sunbird’s leading DCIM software can help you meet EU Green Deal requirements? Get your free test drive now.