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The two-day Certified Data Centre Environmental Sustainability Specialist (CDESS) course provides data centre, IT and facilities professionals with the knowledge needed to improve environmental sustainability while maintaining the availability and manageability of critical infrastructure. You will explore environmental and energy management standards, sustainability frameworks, greenhouse gas emissions, carbon measurement and internationally recognised performance metrics.

The course also examines practical ways to reduce the environmental impact of data centre operations through improved electrical and cooling efficiency, ICT and storage optimisation, water and waste management, and the use of sustainable energy. You will learn how measures such as PUE, CUE and WUE can be used to monitor performance, identify opportunities for improvement and support a structured sustainability programme. The course concludes with the Certified Data Centre Environmental Sustainability Specialist (CDESS) examination.

Sustainable data centre infrastructure representing energy efficiency, renewable energy and reduced environmental impact

Course Schedule

11
Nov 2026
Duration:

2 days

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8:00am - 4:00pm

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Online Live

Price:
Discounted Price:

£1,650 per delegate

Course Code: CDESS

Duration: 2 days

Audience

The primary audience for this course is any IT, facilities or data centre professional who works in and around the data centre and has the responsibility to achieve and improve efficiency and environmental sustainability, whilst maintaining the availability and manageability of the data centre.

Prerequisites

Participants must have at least one to two years' experience in a data centre or facilities environment. The CDCP® is highly recommended. The CDESS® will discuss data centre facility aspects and without the CDCP® or equivalent knowledge, the participant may not be able to gain the full benefits of the CDESS® training.

Course Objectives

After completion of the course the participant will be able to:

  • Understand the impact of data centres on the environment
  • Describe the various environmental/energy management standards
  • Understand the purpose and goals of the legally binding international treaties on climate change
  • Implement various sustainable performance metrics and how to use them in the data centre environment
  • Manage data centre environmental sustainability using international standards
  • Set up the measurement, monitoring and reporting of energy usage
  • Explain the impact of Green House Gases (GHG) and calculate carbon emissions
  • Use power efficiency indicators in a variety of data centre designs
  • Use best practices for energy savings in the electrical infrastructure and in the mechanical (cooling) infrastructure
  • Use best practices for energy savings for the ICT equipment and data storage
  • Understand the importance of water management and waste management
  • Understand the different ways to use sustainable energy in the data centre
  • Get practical tips and innovative ideas to make a data centre more sustainable

Course Content

Module 1 – Impact of Data Centres on the Environment

  • Predictions in 2010
  • Current situation
  • Outlook and commitments

Module 2 – What is Environmental Sustainability

  • The importance of sustainability
  • Senior management commitment
  • Environmental sustainability framework
  • Sustainability policies
  • Performance standards and metrics
  • Information policies
  • Transparency
  • Awareness
  • Service charging models

Module 3 – Environmental Management

  • Environmental sustainability framework (ISO 14001)
  • Standards and guidelines – ISO 50001 / ISO 30134
  • Measurement and categories
  • Baselining
  • Trend analysis
  • Reporting

Module 4 - Data Centre Green House Gases Emissions

  • The usage of CO2 equivalent
  • The three scopes for GHG emissions
  • Definitions for various emission scopes
  • How to calculate Carbon emissions from the electrical grid
  • How to calculate Carbon emissions from backup generator
  • How to calculate Carbon emissions from refrigerant leakage
  • How to calculate Carbon Usage Effectiveness (CUE)

Module 5 – Power Effi­ciency Indicators

  • Various e­fficiency indicators
  • Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE)
  • PUE measurement levels
  • Factors affecting PUE
  • Measurement points and intervals
  • PUE in mixed source environments
  • Measuring PUE in a mixed-use building
  • PUE reporting
  • Impact of PUE after optimising IT load

Module 6 – Electrical Energy Savings (Electrical)

  • Identifying the starting point for saving energy
  • Sizing of power
  • DC power
  • Generators
  • UPS systems
  • Power Factor (PF)
  • Energy savings on lighting

Module 7 – Electrical Energy Savings (Mechanical)

  • Energy savings on the cooling infrastructure
  • Temperature and humidity setpoints
  • Various energy e­cient cooling technologies
  • Energy savings on the airflow
  • Liquid cooling
  • Energy reusage
  • PUE, ERE/ERF and Control Volume

Module 8 – Electrical Energy Savings (ICT)

  • Procurement
  • IT equipment energy e­fficiency
  • ITEEsv, SMPE, SMPO
  • IT equipment utilisation
  • Server virtualisation
  • Open compute project

Module 9 – Electrical Energy Savings (Data Storage)

  • Data management
  • Data storage management
  • Data storage equipment effi­ciency

Module 10 – Water Management

  • Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE)
  • Improving WUE
  • Water usage at the power generation source
  • Energy Water Intensity Factor (EWIF)

Module 11 – Waste Management

  • Waste management policies
  • Life-cycle assessment (Cradle to the grave)
  • 3 R’s for waste management
  • Reduce
  • Reuse
  • Second-hand market
  • Recycle

Module 12 – Sustainable Energy Usage

  • Sustainable energy sources
  • Power purchase agreements
  • Energy attribute certificates
  • Renewable Energy Factor (REF)
  • Matching renewable energy supply and demand
  • Sustainable energy storage
  • Carbon trading

Module 13 – Automated Environmental Management Systems

  • Use of AI and machine learning
  • Load migration
  • Data Centre Infrastructure Management (DCIM) solutions

Exam

Exam: Certified Data Centre Environmental Sustainability Specialist (CDESS®)

Attendees will take a 1-hour CDESS® exam. The exam is 40 questions, multiple-choice, closed-book. The passing mark is 27 out of 40.

Certification & Accreditation

Attendees passing the exam will be awarded the internationally accredited and recognized 'Certified Data Centre Environmental Sustainability Specialist (CDESS®) certificate.  

CDESS® is globally accredited by EXIN, a fully independent exam and certification institute.

The CDESS® certificate is valid for 3 years, after which recertification is required.  Please see the EPI Recertification Program for available options.

Public Schedule

RRP:  
Our price:  
£1,650 per delegate

Private Virtual Training (Teams / Zoom)

n/a

Private Onsite Training (at your offices)

n/a

Note

All prices exclude VAT at 20%.

VAT registration number: 450 4347 14

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Certified Data Centre Environmental Sustainability Specialist (CDESS)

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