Data Centres (DC) are heavy users of energy whereby their energy bill makes up a significant portion of their operating budget. The Green Data Centre initiative aims to boost the competitiveness of the DC industry by raising their overall energy efficiency. The major tenets of the initiative are:
- Establishing a common yardstick - Establish directions for Singapore-specific standards, metrics and best practices for DC energy efficiency with the goal of helping the market realize cost savings.
- Raising efficiency through rating and recognition - Encourage DCs to go Green by assessing their performance and publicly recognising and rewarding those that excel in their greening initiatives.
- Fostering Innovation - Create an conducive environment for the development and adoption of innovative Green DC-related products, solutions and services;
Green Data Centre Innovation Challenge Call-for-Collaboration
To reduce the energy consumption and operating costs of data centres and enhance their competitiveness, IDA is introducing the Green Data Centre Innovation Challenge. The idea behind this challenge is to have the industry think 'out of the box' and come up with innovative solutions that will significantly improve energy efficiency in the data centre sector. Winners of the challenge will be supported for a pilot implementation of their proposed solution.
Green Data Centre Standard
To reduce the energy consumption and operating costs of data centres and enhance their competitiveness, IDA partnered with other government agencies and the industry to develop a Singapore Standard for Green Data Centres under the IT Standards Committee (www.itsc.org.sg). This Standard provides organisations with a framework as well as a logical and consistent methodology to achieve continuous improvement in their DC facilities. It also defines a set of performance metrics for DCs to measure their energy efficiency, and a comprehensive set of recommended industry best practices they can adopt to improve their energy efficiency.
Green ICT events
To create more awareness of the positive impact infocomm technology can make in reducing the carbon footprint and energy costs of organisations, IDA has been working with industry partners to organise a series of green ICT / data centre thought leadership events since end 2009.
The events seek to inform different stakeholders about Singapore's green ICT initiatives and other related developments around the world. They also provide a platform to engage major players in the green ICT space to seek feedback and validation that IDA's programs meet the needs of the industry.
