Environment minister Robyn Parker has announced the release of the new NABERS Energy for data centres rating tools.

“These new tools include what we believe to be a world’s first for rating the environmental performance of the IT equipment within a data centre,” Robyn says.

“These new rating tools sit in the NABERS suite of energy efficiency benchmarking products and will provide the data centre industry with the means to benchmark their current energy efficiency and reward industry leaders and innovators.

“With data centres responsible for 1.5% of Australia’s total annual energy consumption, the need for tools to enable greater energy efficiency in this sector is evident.

“We have worked closely with the Australian data centre industry and consulted with international counterparts to ensure that the rating tools are best practice for this sector.

“The expert advice and guidance provided by these working groups, plus consultation with industry members through workshops, has been invaluable.

“The new rating tools reinforce the NSW Government’s commitment to supporting and encouraging business innovation.”

There are three NABERS rating tools available for data centres owners, operators and tenants:

IT Equipment – a world’s first in measuring and benchmarking the energy efficiency of the IT equipment within a data centre.

Infrastructure – uses the internationally recognised Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) to assess the efficiency of the building services (e.g. cooling and lighting). For the first time there will be a rigorous, independently assessed and accredited performance rating available for data centre operators.

Whole Facility – combines the IT Equipment and Infrastructure rating metrics to assess the energy efficiency of the data centre as a whole.

Robyn says the NSW Government is leading by example and will host the government’s IT equipment within Metronode’s two new state-of-the-art energy efficient data centres.

This will be done using their award winning, environmentally friendly, technology with world recognised green credentials.

“Once operational the new Metronode facilities will be rated under NABERS to benchmark and track performance,” Robyn says.

“The new NABERS Energy for data centre rating tools are now available.”