Guidelines for Datacenter Energy Information System

The purpose of this document is to provide structured guidance to data center owners, operators, and designers, to empower them with information on how to specify and procure data center energy information systems (EIS) for managing the energy utilization of their data centers. Data centers are typically energy-intensive facilities that can consume up to 100 times more energy per unit area than a standard office building (FEMP 2013). This guidance facilitates “data-driven decision making,” which will be enabled by following the approach outlined in the guide. This will bring speed, clarity, and objectivity to any energy or asset management decisions because of the ability to monitor and track an energy management project’s performance.

 An EIS is a key component of managing operations and reducing energy use and cost in data centers. It is broadly defined as performance monitoring software, data acquisition hardware, and communication systems used to store, analyze, and display building operational and energy data (Granderson 2009). Given the heightened awareness around data center energy utilization, there are many EIS products in the market that provide a range of capabilities. Data center owners, operators, and designers need to consider their organization’s specific priorities and context (e.g., knowledge base, skill, resources) to determine the appropriate solution for them.