As anES contributing editor, I get to see tomorrow's news today. And so I saw an early draft of Kevin Dickens' cover feature on how data center designers must struggle to get LEED certifications for new facilities. Please read this excellent story in this month's issue if you are interested in how LEED applies to mission critical facilities. When I first read this piece, I thought that we often overlook the multidisciplinary nature of designing green high-performance data centers. Instead, conversations seem focused on the HVAC challenge or the electrical challenge. Kevin's article on LEED reminds me that developing true green data centers will take more than heroic effort from one discipline, rather it will take a concentrated approach that involves a host of parties, including end users, engineers, architects, server manufacturers, and chip designers. 

For the same reason, I am fascinated by Datacenters21, which is scheduled to take place in San Jose from September 16-18th. The event is sponsored by the International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories, in Partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Save Energy Now and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Pre-conference registration ends September 10. 

The DataCenters 21 program is part of a much larger event, Labs21, and was developed with support from the Critical Facilities Round Table, the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, the Green Grid, Pacific Gas & Electric, and the University of California Office of the President. What I find most interesting is that an event that focuses on the future of the nation's laboratories includes the potential of its data centers to help its program for the future and also puts data center issues in front of a broad audience.