EU Code of Conduct on Data Centres - Best Practices 

By on

Data CentreData centres have historically been run with low efficiencies. Primary concerns have been providing for levels of redundancy and reliability at the expense of energy efficiency. With the environmental impacts of low efficiency installations and the increasing cost of electricity this approach needs to be revalued.

The European Union is implementing a voluntary code of practice for participants with the aim of improving the overall efficiency of data centres. As part of this initiative the 2010 Best Practices Guidelines Version 2.0.0 is available (and can be downloaded at the link below).

The guide is an education and reference document which lists identified and recognised data centre energy efficiency best practices within the Code of Conduct. Common terminology and frames of reference for describing energy efficiency practice are clarified. Best practice areas covered include:

  • Management and planning
  • IT equipment and services
  • Cooling
  • Lighting
  • Data Centre Building
  • Monitoring and reporting

Best Practice Guidelines can be downloaded at:



Steven McFadyen's avatar Steven McFadyen

Steven has over twenty five years experience working on some of the largest construction projects. He has a deep technical understanding of electrical engineering and is keen to share this knowledge. About the author

myElectrical Engineering

comments powered by Disqus



Closed Doors

"I can live with doubt and uncertainty and not knowing. I think it is much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers that might be wrong...

Paternoster Lifts

These lifts were first built in 1884 by J. E. Hall and called a paternoster ("Our Father", the first two words of the Lord's Prayer in Latin) due to its...

Differential protection, the good old days

This morning I was explaining how differential protection works to a junior engineer. To give him something to read I opened up the NPAG (Network Protection...

Harmonised Cable Codes and Colours

Within Europe the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) has standardised the both the designation and colour of cables.   ...

IEC Reference Designations

The IEC publishes a series of documents and rules governing the preparation of documents, drawings and the referencing of equipment.   Depending on country...

GE's Shingijutsu Factory

GE's latest thinking on product manufacturing is he Shingijutsu philosophy or Lean production system. They have started applying this at the Louisville...

Lead us, Warleader

Delum, who had watched all in silence, his face empty of expression, now spoke in turn. ' "Lead us, Warleader, into glory."' Reading is something I do...

Cable Insulation Properties

Cable insulation is used to provide electrical separation between conductors of  a cable.  During the historical development of cables, numerous types...

Cable Sizing Software

When sizing cables nearly, everyone uses some form of software. This ranges from homespun spreadsheets to complex network analyses software. Each has its...

Power Factor

Power factor is the ratio between the real power (P in kW) and apparent power (S in kVA) drawn by an electrical load. The reactive power (Q in kVAr)...

Have some knowledge to share

If you have some expert knowledge or experience, why not consider sharing this with our community.  

By writing an electrical note, you will be educating our users and at the same time promoting your expertise within the engineering community.

To get started and understand our policy, you can read our How to Write an Electrical Note