Data Center FAQs

Data centers come in all different sizes. Some are integrated within an office, and others take up entire football fields of warehouse space.

Data centers are becoming essential to our world’s energy and information infrastructure. With a world increasingly dependent upon technology, it is easy to see why.

With all the importance surrounding data centers, it’s easy to see why there has been an increase in vigilance surrounding energy efficiency. Here are some FAQs surrounding data center and their possible impacts on the environment:

1. The vast majority of American’s own a computer or a smartphone, and use the internet on a regular basis. Approximately 85% of American households have a computer, 70% are connected to the internet and 75% of American adults use social media.

2. There are about 3 million data centers in the United States. 3 million data centers translates into about 1 data center for every 100 people.

3. Data center energy use has escalated in recent years. And it is expected to grow.

4. Most data centers are located in small to midsize businesses. Only a small fraction of the data centers (10%) house the major cloud service providers and supercomputers.

5. A large percentage of the government’s energy use comes from data centers. The Department of Energy estimates that 10 percent of the federal government’s electricity use goes to data centers.

6. Data centers upgrade to new IT equipment every three to five years. New IT equipment is generally more efficient than the older equipment that it replaces. New infrastructure is needed to facilitate energy efficiency goals because of cooling needs within data centers.