Source Card — U.S. Department of Energy
U.S. Department of Energy — data center energy and water efficiency guidance
Federal guidance on data center cooling, water efficiency and the WUE metric, issued through the Federal Energy Management Program and the Better Buildings data center programme.
Publisher
U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy — Federal Energy Management Program and Better Buildings Data Center programme. Ongoing programme guidance.
What it establishes
That data center water consumption is a function of cooling and heat load; that Water Usage Effectiveness (litres per kilowatt-hour of IT energy) is the standard reporting metric; and that raising operating temperatures, improving airflow management and using alternative or reclaimed water are the recommended efficiency measures.
Use in this quest
Cited as the definitional and methodological baseline. Where an operator figure conflicts with this framing, the framing wins and the discrepancy gets logged.