"The EU Code of Conduct is an important step for the European Union and will serve as an exemplary initiative across the globe for bringing together all of the key stakeholders to build energy efficient data centres that will help both the environment and the economy", stated Dave Douglas, senior vice president of Cloud computing and chief sustainability officer. "The eco-friendly technologies and practices outlined in the Code of Conduct not only help to reduce greenhouse emissions, but also serve the bottom line interests of companies and shareholders with significant savings on energy costs."

Developed in close collaboration with the IT industry, data centre owners and operators, the EU Code of Conduct was created in response to increasing energy consumption in data centres and the need to reduce the related environmental, economic and energy supply security impacts. It is a voluntary commitment of European companies aiming to reduce data centre energy consumption through adoption of best practices that will lead to energy savings targets. As an endorser, Sun will be responsible for providing power data and labels for all of its equipment; expanding and clearly labeling temperature and humidity limits in warranties; offering hardware and services to meet power limitation; and developing and assisting with training programmes.

Bob Harvey, chair of the British Computer Society (BCS) Ethics Forum and Carbon Footprint Working Group, stated: "BCS, as one of the leaders in the development of the EU code of conduct, is delighted that large organizations are taking this issue seriously. With the help of companies like Sun, the EU code of conduct will inspire, measure and improve the efficiency of datacenters and computing infrastructures."

The EU Code of Conduct adds to the international organizations that Sun is working with on leading climate change initiatives including, The Green Grid, Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy (BICEP), the Global eSustainability Initiative (GeSI), Climate Savers Computing Initiative, Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC) and the Corporate Leaders' Group on Climate Change. Sun's focus and leadership on greening its operations combined with breakthrough designs and next-generation energy efficient power and cooling systems enabled the company to consolidate its own data centres around the world, including locations in Broomfield, Colorado, Blackwater, UK, Santa Clara, California, and Bangalore, India.

These data centres run exclusively on Sun's line of energy efficient products, including Sun Fire T5200 servers, Sun's x64 servers and the Solaris Operating System. In Broomfield, Sun estimates that its data centre efforts will save more than $1 million in electricity costs and 11,000 metric tons of CO2 per year and will help the company reduce its carbon footprint by 6 percent in the U.S.

"As a technology leader in Europe, Sun applauds the efforts of the EU in publishing the Code of Conduct and setting an example for government organizations worldwide", stated Alain Andreoli, Sun's president in Europe. "We are committed to providing the guidance as well as the energy efficient products and services that will result in real impact to curb climate change across the region."