2018 Best Practice Guidelines for the EU Code of Conduct on Data Centre Energy Efficiency - Version 9.1.0 (JRC110666, EUR 29103 EN)

Overview

The guidelines open by noting that the ICT sector generates up to 2% of global CO2 emissions and that data centres have the fastest growing carbon footprint in the sector. The EU Code of Conduct on Data Centre Energy Efficiency is a voluntary initiative created in 2008, and participants must adopt best practices for energy management. This document is the companion to the programme: an educational and reference document that helps operators identify and implement efficiency measures, and presents the 2018 edition. Customers and IT service suppliers can request or provide the list of practices implemented in a data centre when procuring services.

The version history shows the 2018 draft was prepared on 14 November 2017 with comments from the 2017 stakeholder meeting, 9.1.0 is the 2018 final, and the catalogue has been updated annually since version 1.0.0 (23 October 2008). The structure is the same as 2017: utilisation, management and planning; IT equipment and services; cooling; power equipment; other equipment; building; monitoring. Expected practices and values are marked with the same rules: expected practices apply to any data centre built from 2011 and practice values from 1 to 5 are qualitative and must not be totalled. Participant types and areas of responsibility are unchanged.

The changes against 2017 are mainly in cooling and general policies. The free cooling practice that 2017 listed as upcoming appears in the catalogue as 5.4.1.8 (value 5, new build or retrofit, "investigate the installation of free cooling in all new builds and retrofits"). Supplied air flow control (5.1.14) was optional in 2017 and is now an expected practice for new build or retrofit (value 3): cooling unit fans should be operated against IT air flow demand to limit recirculation without oversupply, with preferably at most 5 Pa positive pressure in the cold stream of contained systems. Practice 5.5.6 (cooling unit sizing, value 4) is in both editions and warns that overestimating IT delta-T undersizes CRAC/CRAH air volumes. Technical areas as industrial space moves from 5.3.5 to 3.2.13.

New practice 3.2.12 asks that air quality be monitored and managed so that particulates or corrosive elements do not damage IT and cooling equipment in performance, efficiency and reliability, and that this inform filter choice, replacement schedule and technical cleaning frequency. The ASHRAE white paper recommends monitoring and cleaning to ISO 14644-1 Class 8, achievable with continuous MERV 8 filtering and screening of air entering the data centre with MERV 11 or MERV 13 filters. The practice is optional here (value 2); section 10 states it becomes minimum expected for the entire data centre in 2019.

Temperature and humidity practices follow the 2017 line: 4.1.3 (ASHRAE A2, 10-35 C, -12 C DP and 8% RH to 27 C DP and 80% RH), with vendors required to publish rather than provide on request any restriction on operating hours within the range that limits the warranty to less than continuous operation; 5.3.1 (10-35 C intake); and 5.3.3 (optional, value 5: 5-40 C and 5-80% RH, up to 45 C in exceptional conditions; using 40-45 C allows refrigeration to be eliminated in most climates). Section 11 items under consideration include IT utilisation targets and software efficiency definitions, for which the document keeps a watching brief on maturing standards.

Key points

1. Version 9.1.0 is the 2018 final; the draft was prepared on 14 November 2017 with comments from the 2017 stakeholder meeting.
2. Practice values run 1-5 and are not meant to be totalled; expected practices apply to data centres built from 2011.
3. IT equipment moved from another data centre is not expected to comply with the new IT practices.
4. 4.1.3: new IT within warranty for 10-35 C inlet and -12 C DP/8% RH to 27 C DP/80% RH (ASHRAE A2 allowable); vendors must publish operating hour restrictions in this range.
5. Vendors should provide data for 5 C or smaller steps of inlet temperature (power versus temperature).
6. 5.3.3 (optional, value 5): operate within 5-40 C and 5-80% RH, up to 45 C in exceptional conditions; 40-45 C operation can eliminate refrigeration in most climates.
7. 5.4.1.8 (value 5): investigate free cooling in all new builds and retrofits.
8. 5.1.14 (value 3) is now expected for new build or retrofit; 5.5.6 notes cooling unit air volume depends on IT delta-T, so overestimating delta-T undersizes units and underestimating oversizes them.
9. 3.2.12 air quality monitoring (optional, value 2) becomes minimum expected for the entire data centre in 2019; ISO 14644-1 Class 8, MERV 8 and MERV 11/13 filters are referenced.
10. Cabinet doors should have at least 66% perforated area; 80% is considered ideal.

Using it in design

• Keep the 2018 edition practices as a selectable compliance baseline for projects designed in 2018.
• Capture vendor power-versus-inlet-temperature curves in steps of 5 C or less in the equipment catalogue so the cooling calculator can model IT fan power rise at higher set-points.
• When sizing cooling units, treat IT delta-T as a range depending on load and utilisation (5.5.6); overestimating it leads to undersized air volume.
• Decide air quality monitoring and filtration (continuous MERV 8, MERV 11 or 13 on incoming air) at design stage; the practice becomes expected in 2019.
• For new builds and retrofits assess free cooling feasibility per 5.4.1.8 and examine whether widening the inlet range (5.3.3) allows removing the refrigeration system.

Who should read it

Code of Conduct participants and design engineers or analysts who use or compare the 2018 period compliance expectations.

Document contents

1. Document Information
2. Introduction
3. Role of Best Practices
4. Expected Minimum Practices
5. Value of Practices
6. Applicability of Expected Practices
7. Type of Participant
8. Participants who do not control the entire data centre
9. Data Centre Utilisation, Management and Planning
10. IT Equipment and Services
11. Cooling
12. Data Centre Power Equipment
13. Other Data Centre Equipment
14. Data Centre Building
15. Monitoring
16. Practices to become minimum expected
17. Items under Consideration

Related standards

• EN 50600-4-2
• ISO/IEC 30134-2
• ASHRAE TC9.9 Thermal Guidelines

Read the document

Publication details

Authors

Mark Acton; Paolo Bertoldi; John Booth; Liam Newcombe; Andre Rouyer; Robert Tozer

Publisher

European Commission JRC

Year

2018

Document number

EUR 29103 EN / JRC110666

Document language

English

Source type

Government / public

Access

Open licence — downloadable

DOI

10.2760/703236

Licence

EU reuse (2011/833/EU) — reuse permitted with acknowledgement of the source

Licence evidence

op.europa.eu

Citation