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Singapore launches sustainability standard for data centres in tropical settings

Singapore launches sustainability standard for data centres in tropical settings

File photo of a data centre. (Photo: iStock/gorodenkoff)

SINGAPORE: Singapore's Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) on Thursday (Jun 8) introduced a sustainability standard for data centres operating in tropical climates. 

It comes after a working group established guidelines to enable the operation of data centres at higher temperatures while optimising their energy efficiency. 

The new standard aims to help data centres gradually increase their operating temperatures to 26 degrees Celsius and above. 

“In a typical data centre, cooling systems account for up to 40 per cent of total energy consumption with many operators choosing to operate their equipment at temperatures of 22 degrees Celsius and below,” said IMDA in a press release. 

The cooling of data centres in warmer environments presents additional challenges as more energy is used to operate the cooling systems, it added.

Under the new standard, data centres could benefit from 2 per cent to 5 per cent energy savings, with every 1 degree Celsius increase in the operating temperature, said IMDA.

The agency has trialled the standard with data centre operators in Singapore. One of them, Digital Realty, successfully increased their operating temperatures by 2 degree Celsius at two of their data halls.

This translated to a reduction of approximately 2 per cent to 3 per cent of total energy usage in these data halls over the trial period to date, said IMDA.

The Government Technology Agency (GovTech) has also begun trialling higher temperatures in a government data centre.

IMDA noted that while data centres are key to the digital economy, they are also intensive users of resources like land, water and energy - contributing to the carbon footprint.

As demand for data centres increases, energy efficiency will be critical for ensuring sustainable growth of the industry, said IMDA.

It is also working with the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) to update the Green Mark scheme for data centres, to encourage greater adoption of the sustainability standard.

The Green Mark scheme sets energy efficiency and sustainability benchmarks for the industry, and evaluates the environmental impact and performance of buildings.

Source: CNA/yb(jo)

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