Greening Data Centers: Beyond LEED Version 4

Advances in information technology (IT) have provided a continuous and reliable connection to the Internet for everyone. This factor, coupled with the widespread use of digital devices like laptops, cellphones, and tablets, have led to the emergence of “big data.” Nowadays, society is producing and using data at an unprecedented rate. Data centers are the primary place for storing, and processing data. Another important trend in IT is the emergence of cloud technology. The rapid rise of IT, the emergence of big data, and the shift to cloud technology have led to a high demand for newer and larger data centers. Data centers are industrial facilities that provide space for servers, hard drives, and batteries, where data is stored and processed. Having numerous servers that consume large quantities of energy makes heat management a critical issue. Heat, generated mostly by servers, needs to be controlled carefully and temperature needs to be maintained within a specified range. Removing excess heat means extensive use of energy resources by the HVAC systems. This constant high-cooling demand marks data centers as buildings that are especially problematic from an environmental standpoint. The LEED version 4 (v4) rating system now has a category for data centers. However, a review of LEED v4 reveals that it fails to address many sustainability factors related to data centers. By focusing only on specific issues, LEED attempts to make significant improvements to sustainability measures mainly in the sections of energy and atmosphere and indoor environmental quality. In other sections of LEED, such as Water and Site Selection, points are not allocated to specifically address data centers’ needs. In LEED v4, data centers have the same criteria as other building types. This paper identifies the potential areas for improvement in LEED v4 for data centers.