Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
With regard to standards, such as the Energy
Star Label for sustainable procurement, which
in the Netherlands has been translated by Senter
Novem into a Dutch norm, one may establish
that these do as yet not cover the entire field of
the facilities for data centres and the ICT provi-
sions needed for these. These standards mainly
concentrate on workstations.
Moreover, within the European Union, gov-
ernments can come to long-term agreements on
the use of energy and promote the economic con-
sumption of energy by means of subsidies. In the
Netherlands for example, long-term agreements
for pushing back energy consumption were made
with the ICT sector. The ICT Office trade organiza-
tion, representing all ICT supply and consultancy
organizations, agreed with the State Secretary for
Economic Affairs that ICT companies will make
an effort to improve their energy efficiency by 2
percent per year. By arranging these long-term
agreements businesses, sector organizations and
governments take on commitments with each
other. Businesses commit themselves to drawing
up an energy efficiency plan, to use 2% less energy
per year and monitor their energy consumption.
The sector organization draws up a long-term
plan and together with its members carries out a
strategic sector study. This provides a route map
for energy savings in the period up to the year
2030. The central government commits itself to
the pursuit of an active policy aimed on promot-
ing possible plans. This may for instance involve
creation of subsidy schemes. Local governments
focus their enactment for upholding environmental
legislation at organizations that do not participate
in the long-term agreement.
Private organizations ultimately can use
subsidy schemes. In the year 2009, the most
important subsidy regulation in the Netherlands
proves to be a regulation regarding tax deduction
for energy investment. In 2007, this regulation
was used sixty times by ICT service providers.
This use concentrated on the cooling of data
centre facilities. With regard to the other regula-
tions, organizations often need the assistance of
a specialised consultancy agency.
Procurement and the
Organization of Procurement
Procurement of Buildings and Energy
Regarding procurement in the Netherlands, one
needs to distinguish between the procurement
of buildings and energy and the procurement of
facilities and ICT provisions. In the procurement
of buildings and energy, one firstly makes a dis-
tinction between purchasing buildings, cooling
equipment and energy and secondly, between
organizations of the central government and of
other organizations.
In the case of data centre buildings for the cen-
tral government, a specific package of demands is
drawn up, based on the processes that take place
within a specific building. The strategy of the
Dutch government focuses on more sustainable
construction. This often involves public-private
cooperation. The general and technical services
for a building for example, are determined for a
period of twenty years. And the government closes
a contract to hire the building with the agreed
services for this period.
Energy for central government buildings is
purchased collectively. In this case, the every
government authority involved can choose to
use grey or green electricity. Green electricity is
electricity produced in a sustainable way using
for example wind turbines or water turbines. The
Dutch Tax Authorities, that is part of central gov-
ernment, use for example only green electricity.
The electricity consumption of this service with
its 35,000 employees is about 70 million kilowatt-
hours per annum.
The interviewed local council of Amsterdam
also used green energy for its electricity. This
energy is purchased on the basis of a framework
contract. At Fontys Universities, the ICT depart-
