Saving Energy in Server Rooms and Closets

What the issue is

Servers power the digital economy. Whether it's calling a friend on your cell phone to make plans for the weekend, discovering old high school friends through social networking sites, or shopping and banking online, servers are the backbone of modern life. But along with the conveniences that servers (and the facilities that house them) provide, they are also demanding more and more energy. Together, U.S. server rooms and data centers are estimated to consume more than 75 billion kilowatt-hours annually -- the equivalent output of 26 medium-sized coal-fired power plants.

Why it matters to you

The pollution associated with the electricity generated to power servers poses a threat to people's health and to the planet's climate. As much as half of the energy needed to power servers is wasted due to poor operational practices and inefficient hardware, particularly in small server rooms and server closets. NRDC estimates that energy waste in U.S. server rooms and closets represents the equivalent output of seven medium-size coal-fired power plants and costs U.S. businesses more than $2 billion per year in unnecessary electricity costs.

What you can do about it

Fortunately, solutions exist to significantly reduce server energy waste. If you are a server room manager in a small or medium organization, consider implementing some of the server room energy savings opportunities NRDC has indentified and read what other server room managers say about the challenges and opportunities. If you are a utility company, respond to NRDC's proposal for utility companies to implement incentive programs to encourage small server room operators to adopt server operational best practices. And if you are a policymaker, raise awareness of the energy efficiency opportunities -- and the costs savings for small businesses -- hiding in server closets across America.

Learn More

• Factsheet: Saving Energy in Server Rooms
• Full Issue Paper: Small Server Rooms, Big Energy Savings
• Utility Program Design Guide