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



Induction Motor Equivalent Circuit

Induction motors are frequently used in both industrial and domestic applications.  Within the induction motor, an electrical current in the rotor is induced...

IEC 60287 Current Capacity of Cables - Rated Current

In the previous note we looked at the approach taken by the standard to the sizing of cables and illustrated this with an example.  We then looked at one...

Fault Calculation - Symmetrical Components

For unbalance conditions the calculation of fault currents is more complex. One method of dealing with this is symmetrical components. Using symmetrical...

Introduction to Lighting

When looking at the design of a lighting scheme it is useful to have an understanding on the nature of light itself and some of the basic theory associated...

Electrical Engineering

Electrical engineering is a field that covers a wide variety of sub-fields, including electricity and electronics. It is a field that goes back to the...

Calculating Cable Fault Ratings

When selecting a cable, the performance of the cable under fault conditions is an important consideration. It is important that calculations be carried...

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...

HTML Symbol Entities

HTML supports a variety of entity symbols which can be entered using either numbers or an entity name.  The number or name is preceded by the ‘&’ sign...

Wiki Depreciation

We have had the Wiki with us for a long time now, but at last I have decided to say bye bye – more details on why below.

Induction Motor Calculator

Just added a page to the tools, which will allow you to calculate the synchronous speed, slip and rated torque for an induction motor. Not a particularly...

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