The Label
Why a DC emissions label?
Datacenters (DCs) are a digital economy’s physical core infrastructure providing IT services centered around data and built with commodity components to benefit from the economies of scale. The ongoing global digital transformation and the slowdown in conventional growth in silicon-based digital platform capacity and capability will not only boost the number and size of datacenters but also their energy consumption and carbon footprint. This label creates transparency about energy efficiency and the end-to-end climate impact of datacenters. With metrics and ratings that award the best in class in datacenter technologies, this label promotes sustainability for the backbone of a digital economy.
What is the label?
The SDEA Label rates a DC’s efficiency and climate impact. It captures efficiency in an end-to-end manner, taking into account not only conventional criteria such as power usage efficiency, but also the IT infrastructure’s utilization and the DC’s overall energy recycling capabilities. The baseline label quantifies DC’s energy efficiency index based on an end-to-end energy flow from ingress electricity to recycled heat capturing DC and IT infrastructure as well as workload utilization. The premium variant quantifies a DC’s carbon emissions taking into account emissions from ingress energy sources. The label is offered in three grades (bronze, silver and gold) to distinguish the level of criteria fulfillment. The criteria, the certification process and the awarding of the label are defined, controlled and conducted by an independent organization, “Swiss Datacenter Efficiency Association” (SDEA) based in Bern, Switzerland.
How can I get the label?
To acquire a baseline or premium label for a DC, the applicant must prove that the DC fulfills the labeling criteria during a certification process mandated by SDEA. It is the applicant’s responsibility (or an expert mandated by the applicant) to gather the necessary information for this certification process. Applications are accepted through an online form. Upon receiving the application, SDEA will then provide a certification information package with a KPI Tool calculating the DC’s efficiency level. Detailed information regarding the measured KPIs can be found in the KPI Factsheet. The applicant must solicit an auditing company that validates the measured KPIs and files an evaluation report. The SDEA’s board members will then review the report and grant the appropriate label according to efficiency level.