The federal Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star program released a framework today for a server energy efficiency benchmark.

The two memos look very preliminary in terms of details but the EPA hopes it’s a starting point toward having Energy Star ratings for servers just as it has them for desktop computers, clothes dryers and ceiling fans.

The memo describes three “building blocks” for developing the standard:

• Definition - to spell out what is covered by the new Energy Star specification.
• Eligible Product Categories - to divide the general server category into subcategories of servers; for example, 1U rack servers vs. mainframes.
• Energy Efficiency Criteria and Test Procedures - to craft a process that determines how energy efficient a server is. The EPA is suggesting a breakdown into two different “tiers” of testing, one that goes into effect immediately and another down the road. The first tier could include criteria such as the efficiency of the server’s power supply and examining the computer’s power management features. The second tier would look at the entire power consumption of a server and might be based off work that the Standard Performance Evaluation Corp. is doing to develop a server efficiency standard.

The EPA is also finishing up a study to Congress on the power consumption of data centers and suggestions for improvement. It was initially scheduled to be done by the end of June but is now scheduled to be released this month. There is more information on both of these initiatives at the EPA’s Enterprise Server and Data Center Energy Efficiency Initiatives Web site.