ITWire

The IT and data centre landscape for sustainability is about to change in Australia, says Bob Sharon, founder of Green Global Consulting. “The new NABERS for data centres rating introduces a recognised energy audit standard for both data centre infrastructure and IT workload.”

Sharon says most data centres are totally unprepared for the introduction of NABERS. “Most people have no idea how much energy their data centre is consuming. Only about 10% of IT departments include the cost of electricity in the operational budget. No-one takes responsibility. But NABERS will change that, because the energy consumption will have to be measured. It will be like a tsunami – everybody will be affected.”

NABERS will not be mandatory, says Sharon, but that will change. “Already office premises must report their NABERS ratings when they are sold or leased. That is likely to happen with data centres also. And increasingly, companies wishing to deal with government will find that the NABERS rating of their data centres will be a factor in determining whether they get the business.

“Up until now, the two distinct functions governing data centres have typically been divided by IT and facilities managers, who traditionally have had limited interaction and sometimes conflicting priorities. Over time, the intention of the NABERS tool is to bring the tenants and landlords together in order to provide a much more integrated approach that will help improve efficiencies.

“For most organisations this will mean a shift in thinking to a more holistic and integrated approach that will ultimately improve efficiencies, reduce costs and have a positive impact on their carbon foot print. The introduction of NABERS also provides unique opportunity for colocation service providers. Those who innovate and think outside the square, and offer world’s best practice PUE or better, will be able to achieve a distinct competitive advantage.”