How data centres can prepare for 2024 CSRD reporting

Author: Simon Rowley

by Jad Jebara, CEO of Hyperview.

The CEO of Britain’s National Grid, John Pettigrew, recently highlighted the grim reality that data centre power consumption is on track to grow 500% over the next decade. The time to take collective action around implementing innovative and sustainable date centre initiatives is now – and the new initiatives such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is the perfect North Star to guide the future of data centre reporting.

This new EU regulation will impact around 50,000 organisations, including over 10,000 non-EU entities with a significant presence in the region. The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) requires businesses to report their sustainability efforts in more detail, starting this year. If your organisation is affected, you’ll need reliable, innovative data collection and analysis systems to meet the strict reporting requirements.

CSRD replaces older EU directives and provides more detailed and consistent data on corporate sustainability efforts. It will require thousands of companies that do business in the EU to file detailed reports on the environmental impact and climate-related risks of their operations. Numerous metrics being assessed are still widely analysed within additional EU-wide initiatives. For instance, the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) requires reporting on two Information & Communication Technologies (ICT) within the CSRD Directive – ITEEsy and ITEUsy – allowing for enhanced measuring and insight into server utilisation, efficiency, and CO2 impact.

Given the anticipated explosion in energy consumption by data centres over the next decade, CSRD will shine a spotlight on the sustainability of these facilities. For example, the law will require organisations to provide accurate data for both greenhouse gases and Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions.

The essential metrics that data centres will need to report on include:

Power usage effectiveness (PUE) – measures the efficiency of a data centre’s energy consumption
Renewable energy factor (REF) – quantifies the proportion of renewable energy sources used to power data centres
IT equipment energy efficiency for servers (ITEEsv) – evaluates server efficiency, focusing on reducing energy consumption per unit of computing power
IT equipment utilisation for servers (ITEUsv) – measures the utilisation rate of IT equipment
Energy reuse factor (ERF) – measures how much waste energy from data centre operations is reused or recycled
Cooling efficiency ratio (CER) – evaluates the efficiency of data centre cooling systems
Carbon usage effectiveness (CUE) – quantifies the carbon emissions generated per unit of IT workload
Water usage effectiveness (WUE) – measures the efficiency of water consumption in data centre cooling

While power capacity effectiveness (PCE) isn’t a mandatory requirement yet, it is a measure that data centres should track and report on as it reveals the total power capacity consumed over the total power capacity built.

If not already, now is the time to ensure you have processes and systems in place to capture, verify, and extract this information from your data centres. We also recommend conducting a comprehensive data gap analysis to ensure that all relevant data will be collected.

It’s important to understand where your value chain will fall within the scope of CSRD reporting and how that data can be utilised in reporting that’s compliant with ESRS requirements. For example, reports should be machine-readable, digitally tagged and separated into four sections – General, Environmental, Social and Governance.

While the immediate impact of CSRD will be in reporting practices, the hope is that, over time, the new legislation will drive change in how businesses operate. The goal is that CSRD will incentivise organisations such as data centre operators to adopt sustainable practices and technologies, such as renewable energy sources and circular economy models.

Improving sustainability of data centres

Correctly selecting and leveraging Data Centre Infrastructure Management (DCIM) that offers precise and comprehensive reports on energy usage is a paramount step in understanding and driving better sustainability in data centre operations. From modelling and predictive analytics to benchmarking energy performance – data centres that utilise innovative, comprehensive DCIM toolkits are perfectly primed to maintain a competitive operational advantage while prioritising a greener data centre future.

DCIM modelling and predictive analytics tools can empower data centre managers to forecast future energy needs more accurately, in turn helping data centres to optimise operations for maximum efficiency. Modelling and predictive analytics also enables proactive planning, ensuring that energy consumption aligns with actual requirements – preventing unnecessary resource allocation and further supporting sustainability objectives.

Real-time visibility of energy usage gives data centre operators insight into usage patterns and instances of energy waste, allowing changes to be made immediately. Ultimately, eliminating efficiencies faster means less emissions and less energy waste. In addition to enhancing operational efficiency, leveraging these real-time insights aligns seamlessly with emission reduction goals – supporting a more sustainable and conscious data centre ecosystem.

Utilising the right DCIM tools can also reduce energy consumption by driving higher efficiency in crucial areas such as cooling, power provisioning and asset utilisation. They can ensure critical components operate at optimal temperatures, reducing the risk of overheating and preventing energy wastage. In addition to mitigating overheating and subsequent critical failures, utilising optimal temperature tools can also improve the lifespan and performance of the equipment.

The right DCIM tool kit enables businesses to benchmark energy performance across multiple data centres and prioritise energy efficiency – while also verifying the compliance of data centres with key environmental standards and regulations like CSRD. Cutting-edge DCIM platforms also enables data centres to correctly assess their environmental impact by tracking metrics such as power usage effectiveness (PUE), carbon usage effectiveness (CUE) or water usage effectiveness (WUE). These tools facilitate the integration of renewable energy sources – such as solar panels or wind turbines – into the power supply and distribution of green data centres.

As sustainability continues to move up the corporate agenda, expect to see greater integration of DCIM with AI and ML to collect and analyse vast quantities of data, such as sensors, devices, applications and users. In addition to enhancing the ease of data collection, this streamlined approach aligns seamlessly with CSRD emission reduction goals – making compliance with CSRD and similar regulations much easier for data centres.

Taking a proactive approach to the data gathering requirements of CSRD and implementing technologies to support better sustainability practice isn’t just about compliance or reporting; it’s also to incentivise data centre operators towards the adoption of sustainable practices and technologies. Ultimately, data centres that are prepared for CSRD will also be delivering greater value for their organisation while paving the way for a more sustainable future.