Best Practice

Improve the sustainability of your data centers and cloud services

Data centers and IT cause substantial amounts of energy consumption that need to be reduced. We explain how to lay the foundations for this with precise measurements and why companies should opt for Green IT.

#Green IT
#Cloud computing
#Data centers

Regulatory requirements

Organizations worldwide are increasingly facing regulatory requirements to document and reduce their carbon emissions along their value chains. Key factors in this regard are:

European Code of Conduct for Energy Efficiency in Data Centers

2020

The code of conduct provides guidelines for data center operators to align their practices with environmentally sustainable criteria and enhance energy efficiency in line with the EU Taxonomy for sustainable activities.

Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD)

2024

The directive requires companies including operators of data centers to report on various sustainability aspects, including energy efficiency, carbon footprint, water consumption, waste management, biodiversity impact, human rights, labor practices, and cybersecurity.

EU Energy Efficiency Directive (EED)

2024

The directives introduce concrete obligations on data center operators to improve energy efficiency, promoting the adoption of sustainable practices and contributing to overall energy conservation goals.

The footprint of Cloud and data centers

IT and data centers play a special role in this context, as they are responsible for most of the energy consumption in many companies. Precisely determining their influence, however, is easier said than done. Many companies are currently relying on rough estimates. A poor basis for a targeted and effective reduction in emissions, which will soon no longer meet regulatory requirements.

Accurate measurement for lower emissions

The smart use of certain technologies and the proper procedure allows precise measurements and insights and therefore also a targeted reduction in emissions. Our experts at Reply know exactly how this works and will support you throughout your transformation journey. Among others, our approach has already been tested and refined in our internal data center and in a data center of a client from the automotive industry. It includes:

First emission mapping

First of all, our experts identify all possible sources of emissions to ensure that all aspects are considered. In addition to the classic IT infrastructure such as routers or servers, they also consider cooling systems for example. This lays the foundation for precise measurement, but also for reliable reporting.

Use smart sensors and IoT

Some consumptions can be measured well with sensors and IoT technologies. Using these technologies allows us to calculate the emissions generated in various processes with high precision. This data provides a solid foundation for a targeted reduction of CO2 emissions and contributes to making operational processes more sustainable.

Consider the PUE

Not everything can be measured with IoT and sensors. That's why our experts take a close look at power usage effectiveness. This value describes the ratio between the consumption of the IT equipment and the total consumption of the data center. This makes it possible to figure out how effectively the center is working overall.

Leverage Green IT

Once we have finally identified the critical points, we can take targeted action. We utilize Green IT to optimize your systems to run with less energy and hardware resources. This also includes writing code and defining IT architecture with sustainability in mind applying green coding principles.