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European Code of Conduct for Energy Efficiency in Data Centres

 

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© Fabian Schmidt

The European Code of Conduct for Data Centres (EU DC CoC) is a voluntary initiative set up by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) in response to the increasing energy consumption in data centres and the subsequent environmental, economic and energy supply security impact that arises from it. It encourages and guides data centre operators and owners in cost-effectively reducing energy consumption without compromising the mission-critical function of these facilities.

By improving understanding of energy demand within data centres, raising awareness and recommending energy-efficient best practices, EU DC CoC strives to achieve significant energy savings in this power-hungry sector.

EU DC CoC sets ambitious voluntary standards for companies willing to participate (Participants) and identifies and focuses on key issues and agreed solutions, as outlined in the Best Practices document. Revised annually, this document includes the latest technological developments to be implemented.

A further document, the Assessment Framework, compliments the Best Practices document by making it more requirement driven rather than recommendation based. This provides auditors with the necessary tools to assess if data centres apply the Practices correctly and it allows market players to complete their disclosures for Taxonomy alignment as part of their non-financial reporting without any ambiguity.

Companies (vendors, consultants and industry associations) can also promote EU DC CoC to their clients. These companies are known as Endorsers.

Since its launch in 2008, more than 500 data centres have joined the EU DC CoC to improve their energy efficiency. Participants who demonstrate a significant reduction in their energy consumption are eligible for the annual EU Data Centres Code of Conduct Awards.

For more details and documentation, visit the Code of Conduct for Data Centres group on the E3P website.

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2 FEBRUARY 2022
Brochure
English
(2.72 MB - PDF)
Download

To find out more about the JRC's work on similar topics, explore the related JRC portfolios:

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