Ensuring data centre compliance: A strategic approach

With constantly increasing legislation for data centres, operators face a crucial question: What is the impact on my operations and what do I need to do now to prepare my organisation?

There is a broader push towards sustainability and efficiency, driven by expanding regulatory standards and a growing recognition of the environmental impact of data operations. Countries worldwide are introducing stringent regulations for existing data centres, making maintaining compliance while ensuring operational efficiency more acute than ever.

In this blog, we look into the nuances of not just the regulations affecting the construction of new projects but also those that reshape the operational processes of existing facilities.

The imperative for data centre compliance in operations

In Europe, the landscape is shaped by both specific national regulations and overarching EU directives

EU Directives

The EU's Energy Efficiency Directive primarily mandates data centres to report key performance indicators related to energy and sustainability. These indicators contribute to an EU-wide database intended to rate the sustainability of data centres across the union, serving as a reporting obligation rather than enforcing immediate operational changes. This initiative aims to reduce energy consumption, promote the use of renewable energy, and facilitate the reuse of waste heat, aligning with the broader goals of climate neutrality in the ICT sector.

Additionally, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is becoming more influential across the EU. This directive requires data centres and other industries to publish detailed reports about their environmental impact, including energy and water usage, enhancing transparency and encouraging sustainable practices. It has a strong focus on climate mitigation as well as climate adaptation.

As part of the CSRD, the EU Taxonomy provides a classification system and targets for sustainability within the data centre industry that are based on the Code of Conduct for Data Centres Energy Efficiency. The Assessment Framework for Data Centres outlines the requirements for climate change mitigation and climate change adaptation strategies. This assessment is mandatory to classify data centre investments as Green.

Furthermore, the data centre industry developed the Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact to make data centres climate-neutral by 2030. This initiative is not a directive or legislation but consists of ambitious, self-imposed targets aimed at ensuring sustainable operations both now and in the future. The pact includes targets for Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE), Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE), and heat recovery.

National legislation

Nationally, countries within the EU have tailored these directives to their specific laws. Germany, for example, has implemented the Energy Efficiency Act, which is specific to Germany and sets strict Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) and heat recovery targets. Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE) targets are bound to follow soon since they are particularly relevant in regions facing water scarcity and require data centres to optimise their water resource management.

In the Netherlands, data centres are subject to an energy savings obligation, which mandates the implementation of all investments with a payback period of less than five years, requiring reporting every four years. One of the implementations is a minimum air temperature (of 27 degrees Celcius) across the cold aisle and deploying the energy-saving settings of servers.

What does this mean?

From the above we learn that current regulations emphasise reporting obligations. These reporting requirements create a database that will likely inform future regulations and provide insights into your data centre operations. These insights are valuable to understanding sustainability improvement opportunities and eliminating inefficiency.

Navigating the compliance landscape

Achieving compliance starts with a strategic audit of current operations to ensure efficiency and meet regulatory standards. This initial step involves assessing energy and water usage, source of energy, carbon footprint, monitoring principles, and reporting principles, equipment specifications and procurement strategies.

It's important to leverage advancements in data centre technology, such as AI-driven energy management systems, which can optimise power usage and cooling based on real-time data. Additionally, exploring renewable energy sources and integrating them into the power supply can further align operations with sustainability goals and compliance standards.

Collaboration with regulatory bodies and industry groups during this process can provide valuable insights and ensure that all upgrades meet the latest standards

Beyond compliance

For many data centre operators, compliance with regulatory standards is a challenge. The drive towards sustainability and efficiency often stems from a more profound commitment to environmental responsibility, reflected in adopting climate-neutral pacts and initiatives. Want to read more about our approach towards sustainable data centres for efficient, net-zero operations?

The roadmap to compliance for existing data centres, amidst tightening regulations and a growing emphasis on sustainability, is both a challenge and an opportunity. Would you like to understand the details of these regulations and investigate their impact on your business? Get in touch today.