ENERGY STAR Benchmarks for Data Centers 2008-10-16 Data ENERGY STAR benchmark for data centers will encompass the development of a standardized whole-building performance rating system for data centers, Federal leadership through implementation of best practices for its own facilities, and development of specifications for servers and related product categories. There is significant potential for energy-efficiency improvements in data centers. Although some improvements in energy efficiency are expected if current trends continue, many technologies are either commercially available or will soon be available that could further improve the energy efficiency of microprocessors, servers, storage devices, network equipment, and infrastructure systems. For instance, existing technologies and design strategies have been shown to reduce the energy use of a typical server by 25 percent or more. Even with existing IT equipment, implementing best energy-management practices in existing data centers and consolidating applications from many servers to one server could reduce current data center energy usage by around 20 percent. Energy-efficiency strategies could be implemented in ways that do not compromise data center availability, performance or network security, which are essential for these strategies to be accepted by the market. For more information, see http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=prod_development.server_efficiency Energy Management Data Center Efficiency Community of Practice Jim Disbrow JIM.DISBROW@eia.doe.gov