EU rates data centers on energy and water

The European Commission proposed a common rating scheme for data centers above 500 kW, measuring energy and water use alongside grid contributions such as waste-heat reuse and added clean generation. The Commission’s data-center proposal enters a two-month scrutiny period, with the first sustainability labels expected in 2027; separate minimum-performance standards are open for consultation. Builders planning European capacity should model PUE, WUE, heat recovery, and flexible load as procurement data now, not future ESG copy, as the archive’s data-center power-grid analysis shows.