Uptime Institute's Green Enterprise IT (GEIT) Awards program grants Awards to projects, ideas, and products that significantly improve energy productivity and resource use in IT. The rigorous judging process is designed to select projects that demonstrate groundbreaking ideas and quantifiable, high impact results.

A principal objective of the GEIT Awards is to educate the data center and IT industries in effective ways to reduce energy consumption by highlighting innovation and best practices. The Institute seeks to recognize and support change agents, share knowledge, and reduce the risk to others in implementing energy efficiency programs.

Categories may differ from year to year to reflect current emphases. The 2010 categories are provided here.

Yes. You may submit multiple applications in the same year, provided that the applications describe different projects, ideas, or products. You may submit multiple applications to a single category or to multiple categories. However, you may not submit a single project, idea, or product for consideration in multiple categories in a single year.

No. You may not submit a single project, idea, or product for consideration in multiple categories in a single year.

Please read the category descriptions and category-specific eligibility criteria, and do your best to select the most appropriate category for your project. If you are still unsure, please feel free to contact the Institute with specific questions. If the Institute or judges feel your project would fit better into a category other than the one you selected, your application may be considered in the other category instead.

To be viable candidates for the Awards, projects should be fairly contemporary - completed within the last one to three years is a good general rule.

Yes, international organizations are encouraged to apply. The sustainability issues facing the data center industry are world-wide phenomena that require international cooperation and knowledge sharing.

We estimate that the process should take 10-15 hours overall to collect the metrics and complete the application. While an individual may complete the application, the Institute believes a team approach typically yields the best results.

The metrics to submit, and how to measure them, is a question applicants ask each year. The application contains specific direction on metrics for each category. It is vital to explain, clearly and in detail, how you measured each piece of data. Judges would like to see you include the 2-3 metrics that are really important to understanding your application and accurately quantifying your energy efficiency accomplishments.

The Institute understands, however, that such data is not always readily available. We will also consider applications submitted with limited or no data, although applications with more detailed data are more likely to impress the judges.

To begin, two notes of encouragement.

First, this question isn't meant to be arduous. The detailed reporting requirements below are there to make sure that applicants report numbers as consistently as possible. If you can't find the exact number that we ask for, feel free to make an estimate or report a related number that you can find. Just be sure to tell us what you're giving us.

Second, this question asks for specific metrics mainly to help the judges understand the context of your data center-how big it is, how much power it draws, etc. Don't worry if these numbers don't completely capture the merits of your efficiency project. The subsequent sections of the app where you explain your project are more open in terms of what data they ask for, giving you the flexibility to present the merits of your project using the numbers that make the most sense.

Now, to clarify the question. In general, Load is a peak power value, measured at a single point in time, frequently measured in kW. Energy usage is power used over a period of time (e.g., over 12 months), frequently measured in kWh.

Here is what we're looking for, for each of the data fields in this question:

Current IT Load
* What to measure: Current IT Load is the instantaneous IT power draw in kW.

* Where to measure: This is most likely measured at the output of the UPS. If you take your measurement from another point, such as "further downstream" at the output of a PDU or at the server plug, please make a note of this for the judges.

* When to measure: If IT power varies over the course of a day or between weekdays and weekends, list the peak value.

* Other notes: Since we ask for "current," in most cases this will probably be the value after the efficiency project referenced in the GEIT application has been completed. (Except for Audacious Idea projects, which might not have been completed yet.)

Design IT Load
* What to measure: Design IT Load is the maximum IT power in kW that the data center facility can support, at the required level of redundancy. So, if a data center has two 100 kW UPS modules and needs 2N redundancy, then the max IT load is 100 kW, not 200 kW.

Current Electrical and Cooling Load
* What to measure: This is total electric power usage of the data center facility, measured in kW. Count all IT loads, cooling, UPS losses, lighting, and other loads. If the data center is part of a larger building, do NOT count energy used in the non-data center spaces. (If the data center isn't separately metered, you may have to estimate.)

* Where to measure: If your data center is a standalone facility, you can measure this at the utility meter. If the data center is part of a larger building and not metered separately, you may have to estimate.

* When to measure: If the load varies over the course of a day or between weekdays and weekends, list the peak value.

Total IT Energy Usage
* What to measure: This is IT energy usage in kWh, measured over a period of time.

* Where to measure: This is most likely measured at the output of the UPS. If you take your measurement from another point, such as "further downstream" at the output of a PDU or at the server plug, please make a note of this for the judges.

* When to measure: Ideally, this would be measured over the prior 12 months, but can be over a shorter time period if less data is available. State clearly what time period the usage includes (e.g., "9 million kW over past 12 months" or "4.5 million kWh over past 6 months").

* Other notes: If you have done your efficiency project over the past year, some of this usage will be from before the project and some from after -- this is okay.

Total Facility Energy Usage
* What to measure: This is total energy usage of data center facility, measured in kWh. Count all IT loads, cooling, UPS losses, lighting, and other loads. If the data center is part of a larger building, do NOT count energy used in the non-data center spaces. (If the data center isn't separately metered, you may have to estimate.)

Make sure to include significant non-electricity energy sources if your data center uses them. Examples are chilled water from an external plant, steam, generator fuel, etc. Many of these energy sources list consumption in other units such as BTUs, so please convert to kWh before adding to the electric energy kWh number. (Electric energy usage in kWh) + (non-electric energy usage converted to kWh) = (Total facility energy usage in kWh).

* Where to measure: The electricity portion of total energy use can be measured at the utility meter, for a standalone data center. If the data center is part of a larger building and not separately metered, you may have to estimate the portion of electricity attributable to the data center.

If your data center user significant non-electricity energy sources, such as chilled water from an external plant, you may need additional measurements or estimates to capture these values.

* When to measure: As with IT Energy Usage, this would ideally be measured over the prior 12 months, but can be over a shorter time period if less data is available. State clearly what time period the usage includes.

* Other notes: If you have done your efficiency project over the past year, some of this usage will be from before the project and some from after -- this is okay.

Typical Hours of Free Cooling Per Year
* What to measure: Total number of hours per year in which your data center uses outside air free cooling (i.e., an airside economizer) to meet all or part of the data center cooling load. If your data center does not use outside air free cooling, say zero.

Click  here to see a graphic representation that may help clarify these points.

The judging process is described here.

Case studies from 2008 can be found here, and from 2009, here.

Notification will occur in early April 2010. Winners will be notified confidentially at this time to allow ample time for executive travel arrangements to attend the Awards ceremony at the annual Uptime Institute Symposium.

Knowledge sharing is a critical component of the GEIT Awards program, so the Institute offers each Award winner three complimentary tickets to attend Symposium and present his or her organization's case study. (Travel and lodging is not included.) You are encouraged to apply for a GEIT Award, even if your company is not yet sure it can allocate the budget for your travel -- you'd be surprised how organizations can find a little extra money for travel expenses if they find out they're sending someone to receive a prestigious award.

Presentation of your case study at Symposium is a required portion of your participation in the GEIT Awards, so unfortunately the Institute must withdraw winner or finalist status from organizations that are unable to send a representative to attend Symposium and present.