The European Commission has proposed a common sustainability rating system for data centres as Europe prepares for a major expansion in digital infrastructure and growing pressure on electricity and water resources.
Data centres are among the world's fastest-growing electricity-consuming sectors and are projected to account for more than 3 per cent of total EU electricity demand by 2030, with the EU expecting its data centre capacity to triple during the next five to seven years.
The rating scheme will apply to individual data centres with capacity exceeding 500 kilowatts, assessed on their use of resources including electricity and water and on contributions such as clean energy generation and reuse of waste heat.
Recovering approximately half of the waste heat produced by European data centres could provide heat equivalent to the needs of four million households, with the first sustainability labels expected to appear in 2027.