🌿GEC

Green Energy Coefficient (GEC) is simply the ratio of green energy consumed by the data center to total energy consumed by the data center. Although many data center's already loosely report renewable energy percentage, specifying a standard metric can aid in enforcing rigid measurement guidelines and targets.

Details

Unit: NA / %

Minimum: 0.0

Maximum: 1.0

Ideal: 1.0

Industry Measure: Netherlands (DDA 2020) 80%

Formula

$$PUE = \frac{ GREEN \ ENERGY \ CONSUMPTION}{TOTAL \ ENERGY \ CONSUMPTION}$$

Where

$GREEN \ ENERGY \ CONSUMPTION$ is the green energy provided to the data center over a period of time,

$TOTAL \ ENERGY \ CONSUMPTION$ represents the energy use of the entire facility.

The classification of green energy is region dependent on issuance of energy certificates. In the Netherlands these come in the form of Garantie van Oorsprong

Evaluation

GEC is an extremely simple but very useful sustainability metric. It is additionally easy to implement for data center operators.

Furthermore, GEC provides a good target setting opportunity for institutions and governments. Results can be audited through energy certificates.

Interpretation

Interpretation for GEC is self explanatory and does not lead to misinterpretation as long as correctly measured by data center.

Sources

[1] Harmonizing Global Metrics for Data Center Energy Efficiency