Singapore implements green rating system for data centers

Singapore’s energy intensive data centers are now governed by a green rating scheme that intends to make them more energy efficient.

The Green Mark for Data Centers jointly developed by the Building and Construction Authority and the Infocomm Development Authority, aims to encourage businesses to make their data centers more energy efficient.

The government estimates that a typical large data center in Singapore consumes energy equivalent to the energy usage of 10,000 households. Energy costs comprise over half of the operating costs of data centers.

Both statistics mean there is potential for significant savings if the facilities were to go green. Singapore's commercial data center space is projected to increase by 50% from 2010 to 2015.

The new rating scheme, which took two years to craft, will encompass both data centers that may occupy a “purpose built” data center building or those part of a larger building.

It will assess data centers’ eco-friendliness based on five criteria: energy efficiency, water efficiency, sustainable construction and management, indoor environment quality and other green features.

Combining all the scores from these measures, the data centers will be rated “Platinum,” “Gold Plus,” “Gold” or “Certified”.

The Green Mark for Data Centers is an extension of Building and Construction Authority’s Green Mark for buildings scheme introduced in 2005.