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A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11Data centers can reduce energy use by improving IT utilization and airflow first, then tuning cooling controls and using workload flexibility where service requirements allow. The best measures depend on the site’s climate, equipment thermal limits, water availability, reliability needs, and workload mix: a cooling design that works well in one facility may be unsuitable in another.
Where should operators start?
Treat energy reduction as a systems problem. IT equipment uses electricity and releases heat; the facility then spends energy moving and removing that heat. As a result, consolidating underused servers can reduce both IT demand and the cooling load that follows. Conversely, a cooling improvement may lower facility overhead without reducing the electricity needed to perform the computing work.
The Federal Energy Management Program’s Best Practices Guide for Energy-Efficient Data Center Design, published July 26, 2024, puts measures involving IT systems and their environmental conditions first because their benefits can cascade into mechanical and electrical systems. The guide cautions that there is no single most energy-efficient design for every data center scenario.
How can IT efficiency lower energy use?
Find and consolidate underused capacity
Build or update an inventory of hardware and applications, then identify servers that are unused or lightly loaded. Where application, security, and resilience requirements permit, consolidate workloads, reassign capacity, or turn off unneeded servers. Virtualization can run separate application environments on shared servers, reducing the number of physical machines needed.
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The 2024 DOE/NREL guide reports that average server utilization in enterprise settings is generally 20% to 40%; this is a broad range, not a benchmark for every organization. Citing Rahkonen and Dietrich (2023), the guide reports about 50% higher server efficiency when processor utilization is doubled from low levels of 20% to 30%. That cited comparison is not a guaranteed saving for a particular server fleet. Evaluate efficiency as useful work per unit of energy—for example, transactions per second per watt—alongside service performance.
Consider efficient components and software
When replacing or configuring equipment, account for the efficiency of processors, fans, power supplies, and networking. Storage consolidation and virtualization can also reduce IT loads. Software matters too: the 2024 DOE/NREL guide notes that efficient algorithms can have a substantial effect, particularly in artificial intelligence and machine learning, while clarifying that algorithms are outside the guide’s hardware focus. Whether algorithm changes are practical depends on the application.
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How can airflow and cooling controls be improved?
Measure conditions where equipment takes in air
Start with temperatures at equipment inlets rather than relying only on room averages. Check whether hot exhaust air is recirculating into cold aisles or cooled air is bypassing equipment. DOE guidance describes hot-aisle/cold-aisle arrangements and warns that poorly managed airflow and temperature differences can waste energy. Sealing bypass paths and using suitable rack airflow accessories are measures to investigate; their results depend on the rack and room design and are not guaranteed by the accessories alone.
Tune fans and pumps to actual demand
Review fan and pump controls and operating speeds against measured cooling demand, equipment conditions, and control limits. The 2024 DOE/NREL guide recommends optimizing fan and pump speeds rather than treating maximum speed as the default. Any adjustment should be checked against inlet temperatures, alarms, redundancy, and operating conditions so that reduced auxiliary energy does not come at the expense of reliable cooling.
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Use economizing only when the site conditions support it
Air-side economizing uses cool outdoor air instead of compressor-based cooling when conditions allow. DOE FEMP says the potential benefit depends on climate, temperature and humidity settings, and operating hours; operators also need to assess outdoor air quality and the equipment’s humidity tolerance. Economizing is therefore a control strategy to evaluate for the local environment, not a universally available source of savings.
When should a facility change temperature targets or cooling technology?
Stay within IT thermal guidelines
DOE FEMP recommends maximizing the temperature of air entering IT equipment while remaining within applicable IT thermal guidelines. A higher inlet target may reduce cooling effort, but it is not permission to exceed equipment limits. The guide also recommends maximizing the temperature of air leaving IT equipment where that helps heat reuse or dry heat rejection. Setpoints should reflect the equipment, operating envelope, and facility design.
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Compare air, liquid, and hybrid approaches against site constraints
Direct liquid cooling and hybrid cooling can reduce PUE and WUE in some applications, according to DOE FEMP, but they add control loops and maintenance requirements. Compare options using energy and water use, climate suitability, inlet limits, air quality, reliability, heat-reuse potential, control complexity, and maintainability. Water availability and the operating team’s ability to support the system are part of the design decision, not afterthoughts.
DOE FEMP reports a site-specific example: the National Laboratory of the Rockies data center achieved a PUE of 1.06 and a WUE of 0.7 in a described hybrid-cooling application. Those reported figures describe that facility; they do not predict the outcome another site will achieve.
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Can workload scheduling reduce energy consumption?
For jobs that can tolerate delay or relocation, operators can consider queuing or shifting work, power capping, server power management, virtualization, or moving workloads to another facility. DOE/LBNL identifies these as demand-response options. LBNL’s Center of Expertise for Data Center Energy describes work on optimized controls, workload management, and energy storage to support flexibility while meeting operational requirements.
Before applying a flexibility measure, check the job’s latency needs, deadlines, security constraints, and service-level commitments. Shifting a job in time or moving it to another location can change when and where electricity is consumed, but does not automatically reduce the total electricity required to complete the computation. Measure the outcome against the service delivered as well as the timing of facility demand.
Which metrics show whether a change helped?
| Metric | What it indicates | What it does not establish by itself |
|---|---|---|
| PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) | Total facility energy divided by IT equipment energy. DOE FEMP describes it as a way to track facility efficiency; a lower value means less non-IT overhead relative to IT energy. | It does not show how much useful computing was completed or, on its own, whether total facility energy fell as IT load changed. |
| WUE (Water Usage Effectiveness) | Site water use relative to IT equipment energy, expressed in liters per kWh in the cited DOE guidance. | It does not replace energy or reliability measures; consider it alongside them when cooling choices affect water use. |
| Useful work per watt | Connects IT energy to completed work. The DOE/NREL guide gives transactions per second per watt as an example of server efficiency. | A facility-level ratio alone does not describe water use or all service and resilience requirements. |
Track the relevant measures before and after an operational change under comparable conditions. DOE reports that a cooling-controls demonstration at California data centers achieved more than 2.3 million kWh of annual energy savings. The DOE case study does not state a publication year on its page, and the result belongs to that demonstration—not a general savings estimate for other sites.
Quick Recap
How should an operator put the measures into practice?
- Establish a baseline: record IT and facility energy, equipment inlet conditions, cooling-system operation, and water use where relevant. Note workload and environmental conditions so later comparisons have context.
- Address IT capacity and airflow: inventory equipment and applications, find consolidation opportunities, and investigate bypass or recirculation using inlet measurements.
- Tune controls within operating limits: review fan and pump speeds, then assess feasible temperature targets and economizing against equipment guidelines, climate, humidity tolerance, and air quality.
- Test workload flexibility selectively: identify jobs with suitable deadlines, latency, security, and service requirements before queuing, capping, managing, or relocating them.
- Compare outcomes and operational burden: evaluate useful work, energy, water, reliability, maintenance, and heat-reuse implications together before scaling a change.
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