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Climate-Friendly Co-Location Data Centers (DE-UZ 214)

New Basic Award Criteria

Please note that there is a newer edition.

The existing environmental label for “Energy Efficient Data Center Operation” (DE-UZ-161) utilises an interdisciplinary approach covering all areas of a data center and its infrastructure. This system-based approach not only focuses on the energy efficiency of individual components but, in particular, also on the overall environmentally-conscious management of the data center. Up to now, operators of colocation data centers were only able to apply for this environmental label  if their customers ensured compliance with the requirements for the efficient operation of the information technology. This represented an almost insurmountable hurdle in practice.

The importance of colocation data centers has increased significantly in recent years. Colocation data centers already accounted for 32% of the total building area covered by data centers in 2017, while this figure stood at just 15% in 2010. The reasons for this development are, for example, new business processes dealing with digitalisation and the increasing networking of products and the associated increase in the use of cloud applications whose services are primarily offered via colocation data centers. 3

Due to the advance of digitalisation, the number of data centers and, in particular, colocation data centers will grow even further. Both, energy consumption and also the demand for raw materials – and especially critical raw materials – will increase as a result.

This environmental label for “Climate Friendly Colocation Data Centers” addresses the areas that can be influenced by colocation suppliers.

The environmental label for “Climate Friendly Colocation Data Centers” may be awarded to those colocation data centers

  • whose building technology is operated in a particularly energy efficient and resource-conserving manner,
  • whose operators develop and successfully implement a long-term strategy for increasing the energy and resource efficiency of the DC infrastructure,

3 Borderstep on behalf of the eco-Verband: Bedeutung digitaler Infrastrukturen in Deutschland. Chancen und Herausforderungen für Rechenzentren im internationalen Wettbewerb, 2018

  • who motivate their customers to use energy-efficient information technology and
  • who offer guaranteed minimum standards and transparent reporting to create the conditions for colocation customers to operate information technology in an environmentally friendly manner.

Since the beginning of 2023, there has been a new consolidated eco-label for “Data Centres” (DE-UZ 228), in which the previous eco-labels “Energy Efficient Data Centre Operation” (DE-UZ 161) and “Climate-friendly Co-location Data Centres” (DE-UZ 214) have been merged and revised.

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