IBM has received energy efficiency status for 27 of its data centers in Europe. The European Commission (EC) awarded this honor based on the EU Code of Conduct for Data Centers.
The rise in energy consumption at data centers led to the creation of the EU Code of Conduct. The code induces and educates operators and owners of data centers to reduce their consumption of energy without affecting important activities at the data center. The EC performs the assessment based on usage of cold aisle containment, installation of free cooling facilities and energy efficient hardware.
The efficiency of a computer data center in utilization of power is indicated as power usage effectiveness (PUE). The industry has an average rating of 1.8 and IBM was given a rating of 1.65. IBM has received the EU honor for most number of centers belonging to a single company. The company has outsourcing data centers spread in 15 European countries and these 27 centers form 70% of its total data centers.
In 2007, IBM had set a goal to double the IT capacity at its centers while maintaining its energy consumption at the same level. The company met the goal within a period of three years.
IBM Research has developed mobile measurement technology, which includes placing of sensors for detecting hot and cold spots and for recording airflow and temperatures in the data centers. The technology provides data on energy flow and facilitates efficient cooling of its centers. IBM maintains uniform practices at all its centers. It has consolidated its servers, installed energy efficient servers in place of older hardware and has made efficient and intelligent use of air cooling and electrical power.
Source: http://www.ibm.com