The EPA hopes to launch its Energy Star program for data centers in June, reports PCWorld.
Earlier, the program had been tentatively scheduled to launch in early 2010.
Last May, EPA launched Energy Star for servers. EPA said it is working on Energy Star for uninterruptable power supplies, or UPS systems, according to PC World.
With the forthcoming rating system, data center operators will be able to assess the energy use of their facilities and receive a metric that allows them to compare how they are performing relative to their peers.
Based on the EPA’s 1-to-100 rating system, data center operators will enter basic information about their energy use and operational characteristics into a password-protected account they establish in the EPA’s Portfolio Manager, an online energy-benchmarking tool. A score of 50 indicates average performance, and a score of 75 or higher means the facility is in the top 25 percent in terms of energy efficiency, qualifying the data center for an Energy Star label.
The rating earned will be based on PUE, or power unit efficiency, a measure of the total power used by the data center, divided by the amount that actually reaches IT equipment, as opposed to being used for cooling systems or inefficient power supplies.
Some critics think that the rating system also should take into account whether a data center uses free cooling, as well as what level of redundancy the center provides.
