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Digital Realty to Publish PUE Data for Its Sites: What the Data Shows Now

Digital Realty’s 2008 PUE-reporting promise led to benchmark-focused efficiency reporting. Its latest disclosed results are 2025 weighted portfolio and regional averages, not a verified PUE table for every site.
From TheFinanceBase Team3 min to read
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Digital Realty’s 2008 announcement promised PUE reporting and benchmarks for its North American and European data centers. Its latest disclosed figures are portfolio and regional results rather than a publicly verifiable table for every site. For the 2025 reporting year, Digital Realty reported a weighted average annual PUE of 1.38 globally, with 1.38 in APAC, 1.31 in EMEA and 1.41 in North America.

What Digital Realty announced in 2008

On May 1, 2008, Digital Realty said it would use Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) to measure and report energy efficiency across its North American and European data-center portfolio and publish benchmarks. Contemporary coverage described the portfolio as 70 facilities totaling 12.6 million square feet. Those figures describe the company at that time, not its current scale.

Digital Realty vice president of engineering Jim Smith explained the aim of PUE as an “apples-to-apples comparison similar to the miles-per-gallon (MPG) fuel efficiency rating that the auto industry uses.” That is a description of the metric’s intended usefulness, not a guarantee that every facility comparison is equivalent.

What PUE measures

PUE is calculated as:

PUE = total data-center facility energy ÷ IT-equipment energy

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A PUE of 1.00 would mean all measured facility energy went to IT equipment. A higher number reflects energy used by cooling, power distribution, lighting and other infrastructure supporting the IT load. PUE therefore describes overhead relative to IT energy; it does not by itself show total electricity consumption, carbon emissions, water use or the efficiency of customers’ computing workloads.

Digital Realty’s latest reported PUE results

Digital Realty’s 2025 Impact Report, published in 2026, says PUE measurement has been standardized across its global operations in alignment with ISO international standards. The company also says it sets annual site-specific targets based on real-world operating conditions.

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Population or region Reported PUE How to interpret it
Global portfolio 1.38 Weighted average annual operational PUE for 2025
APAC 1.38 Weighted average annual operational PUE for 2025
EMEA 1.31 Weighted average annual operational PUE for 2025
North America 1.41 Weighted average annual operational PUE for 2025
Six data centers delivered in 2025 1.20 Average design PUE, not the operating average for the full portfolio

The operational weighted averages include data centers that had been operating for at least 12 months and had utilization above 20%. Those inclusion rules matter: changing the facility population or utilization threshold can change the reported average.

Why the 1.20 and 1.38 figures are not interchangeable

The 1.20 result is an average design PUE for six facilities delivered in 2025. The 1.38 result is an operational weighted average for the eligible portfolio during the 2025 reporting year. Design values describe intended performance under design assumptions; operating values reflect actual conditions, including weather, load and operating practices. They cover different populations and should not be treated as a like-for-like improvement or ranking.

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Does Digital Realty publish PUE for every site?

The current materials reviewed provide global and regional portfolio figures, not an independently verifiable public table showing the current PUE of every individual facility. That does not establish that no site-level disclosure exists elsewhere; it means the cited current reporting does not substantiate a complete site-by-site list.

Digital Realty’s statement that it sets annual site-specific targets also does not provide the target or measured result for each location. A portfolio average cannot be used to infer an individual site’s performance.

How to compare Digital Realty’s PUE with another operator

  1. Match the reporting period. Compare the same year or operating period.
  2. Match the population. Check whether the number covers one building, a region, new deliveries or the entire eligible portfolio.
  3. Match the boundary and method. Confirm what counts as facility and IT energy and whether the calculation follows the same standard.
  4. Check operating conditions. Utilization thresholds, weather and occupancy can materially affect operational PUE.
  5. Separate design from operating results. A design PUE is not a substitute for measured annual performance.

Even a carefully matched PUE comparison cannot establish which company uses less total energy or produces fewer emissions. A smaller operator with a lower PUE may still consume less electricity overall, while carbon intensity depends on the power supply as well as efficiency.

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What the announcement means for readers

The 2008 announcement marked Digital Realty’s commitment to make facility efficiency measurable through PUE and benchmarks. Today, the company reports standardized, weighted portfolio and regional operational results and discusses site-specific targets. The publicly stated figures support portfolio-level analysis, but they do not provide enough information to assign a current PUE to every Digital Realty site.

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