EU Code of Conduct for Data Centers, A Toothless Guard Dog?

The EU Code of Conduct for Data Centres, as a practical set of guidelines designed to improve energy efficiency within the data centre industry, bringing vendors and data centre operators together and developing good practices for reducing the energy consumption of data centres, has now made up 12 percent of data centre expenditure.

Few Adopters?

The code is voluntary, and has faced persistent criticism over the small number of organisations that have publicly embraced it. Some have argued that unless more people adopt it, it may have to be embodied in mandatory regulations.

However, according to, Zahl Limbuwala, the Chairman of BCS-Data Centre Specialist Group, the code’s best practices have had not just a significant impact in the EU but much further afield also.

"There are very few data centre people in the EU now that have not heard of the code and most speak positively of it’s goals and effect on the industry."

"Telecity group are one data centre operator that has proven implementing the code’s best practices has made and continues to make good business sense!"

The code was never about regulation or legislation or about forcing businesses to comply, it’s was about making an impact on the ever growing use of energy to ensure it gets used efficiently rather than wasted.

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The Data Center of Google in Hong Kong

Google has kicked off the construction of its first Asian data center in Hong Kong which is expected be up and running in early-2013.

In a statement released Thursday, the Internet giant said it will be investing US$300 million--which includes the cost of land, construction and technical equipment--to build the facility in Kowloon, Hong Kong, on a 2.7 hectare site. Once completed, users in Asia can expect "faster and more reliable" access to Google's online tools and services, said Simon Chang, Google's head of Asia-Pacific hardware operations.

Even with Hong Kong's warm weather, Chang said the "innovative design" of the facility will make it one of the most efficient and environmentally friendly in Asia. "One way we'll achieve region-leading efficiency [in Hong Kong] is by custom designing each element to operate at optimal efficiency," he said.

Beside custom designs, he noted that the Hong Kong facility will make use of efforts used across its global data center network to increase efficiency. These include, for example, maximizing the use of free cooling instead of chillers, running equipment at a much hotter temperature than typical data center, and measuing and adjusting power usage to achieve peak efficiency, said the Google executive.

Once fully operational, the Hong Kong data center will hire about 25 full-time staff and a number of part- and full-time contractors for various roles such as computer technicians, electrical and mechanical engineers, and catering and security staff.

Hong Kong will not be the only Asian data center for Google. In September, the Internet giant announced it had purchased 2.45 hectares of land in Singapore to build a data center, although it was unable to confirm when construction for the site would begin.

Adopted from www.zdnetasia.com