H. R. 5646

One Hundred Ninth Congress

of the

United States of America 

AT THE SECOND SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday, 

the third day of January, two thousand and six 

An Act 

To study and promote the use of energy efficient computer servers in the United 

States.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. STUDY. 

Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this 

Act, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, 

through the Energy Star program, shall transmit to the Congress 

the results of a study analyzing the rapid growth and energy 

consumption of computer data centers by the Federal Government 

and private enterprise. The study shall include—

(1) an overview of the growth trends associated with data 

centers and the utilization of servers in the Federal Government 

and private sector; 

(2) analysis of the industry migration to the use of energy 

efficient microchips and servers designed to provide energy 

efficient computing and reduce the costs associated with constructing, operating, and maintaining large and medium scale 

data centers; 

(3) analysis of the potential cost savings to the Federal 

Government, large institutional data center operators, private 

enterprise, and consumers available through the adoption of 

energy efficient data centers and servers; 

(4) analysis of the potential cost savings and benefits to 

the energy supply chain through the adoption of energy efficient 

data centers and servers, including reduced demand, enhanced 

capacity, and reduced strain on existing grid infrastructure, 

and consideration of secondary benefits, including potential 

impact of related advantages associated with substantial 

domestic energy savings; 

(5) analysis of the potential impacts of energy efficiency 

on product performance, including computing functionality, reliability, speed, and features, and overall cost; 

(6) analysis of the potential cost savings and benefits to 

the energy supply chain through the use of stationary fuel 

cells for backup power and distributed generation; 

(7) an overview of current government incentives offered 

for energy efficient products and services and consideration 

of similar incentives to encourage the adoption of energy efficient data centers and servers; 

(8) recommendations regarding potential incentives and 

voluntary programs that could be used to advance the adoption 

of energy efficient data centers and computing; and 
H. R. 5646—2

(9) a meaningful opportunity for interested stakeholders, 

including affected industry stakeholders and energy efficiency 

advocates, to provide comments, data, and other information 

on the scope, contents, and conclusions of the study. 

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

It is the sense of Congress that it is in the best interest 

of the United States for purchasers of computer servers to give 

high priority to energy efficiency as a factor in determining best 

value and performance for purchases of computer servers.

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.