Congress Wants To Cool Off Your Data Center

According to the bill, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Michigan, reads, in part, that the EPA study should undertake:

The bill, which doesn't appear yet to have sponsorship in the U.S. Senate, also tasks the EPA with performing an "analysis of the potential impacts of energy efficiency on product performance, including computing functionality, reliability, speed, and features, and overall cost."

You can read a PDF version of the bill here.

Some of these studies have already been undertaken by companies providing cost-saving technology, including Intel. According to that chipmaker's Technology@Intel Magazine, which reviewed energy savings from clusters built with its newer dual-core processors:

Intel rival Advanced Micro Devices has also been working to bring more energy-efficient technology to the data center. In the IT industry, performance-per-watt is essentially supplanting gigahertz as one of the more important measurements.

Importantly, Rogers' bill wants the EPA to take a look at what incentives are now being offered for energy-efficient products and services, and what might have to be done to bring those incentives into the data center. Twenty-four percent savings, in this energy pricing environment, may be just the incentive, though.