Slides presented by Una Song, Program Manager, ENERGY STAR Program, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

1. U. S. Environmental Protection Agency
Data Center Efficiency Efforts
Nextgov Prime
December 3, 2012

2. What Is ENERGY STAR?
• Voluntary labeling program
managed the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA)
• Strategic approach to energy
management, promoting energy
efficient products and practices
• Tools and resources to help save
money and protect the
environment
• Influential brand recognized by
over 80 percent of Americans

3. ENERGY STAR 20th Anniversary
• Together with help from
ENERGY STAR, American
families and businesses have
saved a total of nearly $230
billion on utility bills &
prevented more than 1.7
billion metric tons of
greenhouse gas emissions
over the past 20 years.

4. What Are ENERGY STAR Qualified
Products?
• More than 65 product categories
(www.energystar.gov/products)
• Over 1,700 manufacturers use ES to
differentiate more than 40,000 models
• In 2011, Americans:
– Purchased more than 200 million ES
qualified products
– Prevented about 210 million metric tons of
greenhouse gas emissions ––equivalent
to annual emissions of 41 million vehicles.

5. Federal Purchasing Requirements
• Federal Agencies must buy:
– ENERGY STAR-qualified products
– Products that exceed FEMP-designated efficiency
requirements, AND
– Low standby power products
• Required by:
– Law, Executive Order, and the Federal Acquisition
Regulation (FAR)
– FAR 23.2 and 52.223-15
– Codified at 42 U.S.C. 8259 (EPAct 1992, 2005, EISA 2007)
• Applies to:
– U.S. Government (all agencies that use the FAR)
purchases, contracts, specifications for purchases

6. Data Center Efficiency Requires a
Two-Pronged Approach
• Addressing Products in Data Center
• Addressing Data Center Buildings and
Operations

7. ENERGY STAR IT Products
• Current specifications
– Computers
– Displays (monitors and professional)
– Servers
– Imaging
– Uninterruptible Power Supplies
• New specifications
– Storage
– Data center cooling
– Small networking equipment
– Large networking equipment

8. Standardized Information on Products
Needed
ENERGY STAR Power
and Performance Data
Sheet (PPDS) tool
– Displays the in-depth
information that
purchasers and users
look for
– Standardizes the way this
information is
communicated
– Operators can more
easily compare products
on energy use

9. Conducting Outreach and Education
on Products
• ENERGY STAR Low
Carbon IT Campaign
– Agency tool for conducting
outreach
– Targeted audience
• Data center facility managers
(with a focus on in-house and
co-location data centers)
• Chief Information Officers
• Other decision makers on
savings opportunities
– Focal point for a range of
resources
• Top 12 Ways to Save
• Case studies on best
practices and demonstrated
savings

10. Addressing the infrastructure and
efficiency of the data centers
– EPA has developed a resource that
outlines the top twelve ways to decrease
overall data center energy use
– Focuses on low cost steps that
organizations can take to significantly
improve data center efficiency
– Addresses everything from updating and
consolidating technology, managing data
center air flow, and improving HVAC
system operation
– The Number One recommended step is
server virtualization which involves
consolidating multiple, independent
servers to a single physical server,
operate the remaining servers more
efficiently, and reduce energy costs by
10% to 40%

11. Thank you
• Contact information:
Una Song
202-343-9024
Song.Una@epa.gov