SAN FRANCISCO - Digital Realty Trust Inc., a leading owner and manager of corporate and Internet gateway datacenters, is reporting results from a new study of green datacenter trends that shows a slowing in the number of companies pursuing green datacenter initiatives, which may be due to no clear industry standard.

“When we conducted our first green datacenter study last year, respondents expressed concern about the lack of industry standards for green datacenters. The impact of that concern is very evident in this year’s survey. Companies are looking for leadership and clarity on how to define a green datacenter, how to design their green datacenter plans, and how to put them into action,” said Jim Smith, vice president of engineering at Digital Realty Trust.

Key findings from the 2008 study are:

• 51 percent of companies have a green datacenter strategy, a decline since the 2007 study when 55 percent of companies answered the question affirmatively. This indicates that corporate adoption of green datacenter strategies has stalled or perhaps taken a step back since last year.

• 82 percent of companies say there is no clear industry standard for green datacenters. This figure is up from 75 percent in 2007, indicating that there is more ambiguity than clarity in the industry. One area where there was broad agreement was in what elements an industry standard should comprise. The top two responses were:

- 94 percent agreed that a standard should outline how to achieve efficient power usage.

- 83 percent agreed that a standard should also outline how to enhance HVAC systems to use energy more efficiently.

• In the absence of green datacenter standards, companies cite Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification as the best alternative. More than 60 percent of companies look to LEED general building standards as a model for their green datacenter initiatives. The Green Grid was also cited as a resource for green datacenter initiatives, indicating that the consortium is gaining visibility and momentum in the industry.

Publication date: 04/28/2008