September 30, 2009 – (HOSTSEARCH.COM) –
EvoSwitch, the Dutch carrier-neutral data center with operations that are fully CO2-neutral, has signed the EU Code of Conduct on Data Centres Energy Efficiency. European data centers that sign this agreement will thus be obliged to reduce their energy consumption by 20 percent by the year 2020. EvoSwitch, however, already surpasses this objective by a considerable margin since it now consumes 40 percent less energy than traditional data centers.
The EU Code of Conduct on Data Centres Energy Efficiency was launched by the European Commission in November 2008 to discourage excessive energy consumption in data centers. The voluntary contract to comply with the code of conduct contains guidelines, recommendations and examples of best practices to save on energy in data centers. At the national level, EvoSwitch was one of a pioneering group of 16 ICT companies that signed the Long-Term Agreement on Energy Efficiency (MJA) issued by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs. The purpose of the MJA is to improve energy efficiency by 30% over a period of fifteen years.
New data center
EvoSwitch, located in the Amsterdam region, already substantially exceeds the guidelines for energy savings as stated in the EU Code of Conduct for Data Centres Energy Efficiency, by consuming 40 percent less energy than traditional data centers [its current Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) is 1.6]. For EvoSwitch, signing this agreement means that it will periodically have to submit information about the energy consumption in its data center to the Joint Research Centre of the European Institute for Energy located in Italy.
“The EU Code of Conduct for Data Centres Energy Efficiency is a good European initiative and will hopefully motivate more data centers in Europe to invest in reducing their energy consumption,” says Eric Boonstra, Managing Director of EvoSwitch. “The cautious objective of saving 20 percent on energy consumption is a nice start. Across the market, I think it’s a realistic and attainable objective. Older data centers will never be able to operate as efficiently as a completely new data center, but there are enough technologies available to achieve the 20% objective.”
EU platform for like-minded parties
EvoSwitch currently consumes 40 percent less energy than a traditional data center, but once the data center is enlarged, this will increase to 80%, which will be equal to a PUE of 1.2.
“This means that we are running far ahead of the established objectives,” continues Boonstra. “Still, we signed the EU Code of Conduct because we wanted to demonstrate what is technically possible and practically feasible at the European level. The EU Code of Conduct on Data Centres Energy Efficiency is not just a goal for the future but also serves as a platform for like-minded parties that want to achieve a common objective. This was also why, in 2007, we were the first data center in the world to become a member of The Green Grid, the consortium of IT suppliers that wants to curb energy consumption in data centers.”
Data Center Government
In the near future, the guidelines in the EU Code of Conduct on Data Centres Energy Efficiency will also be used by the Dutch central government and by local government agencies and authorities to purchase services from external data centers. SenterNovem is now working for the government to identify which sustainable purchasing requirements can be used for this purpose. In any event, these will include the European requirements stated in the EU Code of Conduct. In 2010, various government agencies will employ the purchasing criteria recommended by SenterNovem, and will start applying these sustainable criteria – in part or in full – when purchasing their goods and services.
About EvoSwitch
EvoSwitch (www.evoswitch.com) is a carrier and climate neutral data center. The data center is energy saving and has a PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) of 1.6, aiming towards a PUE of 1.2. EvoSwitch is located in the Amsterdam area, has good connections, a 20 Megawatt power capacity, and an ample floor surface exceeding 9,000 square meters. EvoSwitch is ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 certified. For customers, this means that their IT infrastructure at EvoSwitch is protected following the highest security standards. EvoSwitch’s operations are fully climate neutral. In collaboration with the Climate Neutral Group, the data center invests in global projects to restore the CO2 balance in the atmosphere (www.climateneutralgroup.com). EvoSwitch customers can use the logos in the partner program The Green Fan on their website to demonstrate that they use a climate neutral data center (www.thegreenfan.com). In January 2009, a report issued by the German Federal Ministry of the Environment described EvoSwitch as one of the world’s eleven most energy saving data centers. In the Netherlands, EvoSwitch joined a group of 16 leading ICT companies in signing the Multi Year Energy Efficiency Agreement (MJA) of the Ministry for Economic Affairs. The MJA aims to realize 30% energy efficiency over a period of fifteen years.
