A private UK organization that performs environmental-impact assessment of buildings has added an assessment method specifically for data centers. The new BRE Environmental Assessment Method, called BREEAM Datacentres, was developed by BRE Global in collaboration with the large US-based wholesale data center provider Digital Realty Trust.
The new standard falls under the existing umbrella of BREEAM Other Buildings and only assessors licensed to carry out audits in this family are allowed to issue BREAM certifications to data centers. The standard will evolve based on information collected during future data center audits.
In March of 2009, DRT formally committed to design its future facilities to the BREEAM standards.
The BREEAM program is part of BRE Global, an organization that provides third-party certifications for products, services and systems. The company also provides research and consulting services.
This is the latest in a series of standards and rating systems various organizations have created to rate data center energy efficiency and environmental sustainability. The US Environmental Protection Agency released its Energy Star rating for data centers in June, rating building energy performance on a 0-100 scale and issuing the Energy Star label to facilities within the top 25 percent.
EPA’s rating is based on another data center energy efficiency rating: Power Usage Effectiveness, created by the Green Grid. PUE compares total building energy use with the amount of energy used by IT equipment.
Of all such rating systems, the most famous one is the US Green Building Council’s LEED standard for sustainable buildings. While the standard is applied to a wide variety of types of buildings, the council has yet to develop one specifically for data centers. Still, many data centers around the world have achieved various levels of LEED certification.
Related news: First US data center earns LEED Platinum certification
Related feature: Citi’s LEED world first for Frankfurt data center
Related feature: How to achieve LEED certification
Keywords: BREEAM, BRE Global, Digital Realty Trust, data center energy efficiency, data center sustainability, green data center green building, US EPA, Energy Star, The Green Grid, PUE, USGBC, LEED | |
