EU data centre rating: energy and water efficiency labels from 2027

Since 2024, every data centre in the EU with an installed IT power demand of 500 kW or more has had to report its energy and sustainability performance to a European database each year, under Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/1364. On 21 September 2026 the European Commission proposed the next step: a common rating scheme with a sustainability label.

The draft delegated regulation, adopted under the recast Energy Efficiency Directive (EU) 2023/1791, rates Power Usage Effectiveness and Water Usage Effectiveness on scales from A to G. The label also records on-site renewables, power purchase agreements, guarantees of origin, waste-heat reuse and contribution to grid functions. Labels would be issued every year from 15 August 2027, provided Parliament and Council raise no objection during their two-month scrutiny.

The Commission has also opened a consultation on minimum performance standards for data centres, which closes on 14 December 2026. Together with the European Water Resilience Strategy, this puts the water side of cooling under the same scrutiny that energy has faced for a decade.

Better water ratings usually come from the plant room: filtration and softening of make-up water, reverse osmosis to raise cycles of concentration in cooling towers, and treatment and reuse of blowdown instead of discharging it. Davey Products designs and builds these systems, with UF and RO elements from Theway Membranes, delivered in the EU through VDT Europa.

Supplied in Europe

In the European Union, Davey Group equipment is supplied, contracted and supported by VDT Europa OÜ in Tallinn, Estonia. Contact contact@vdteuropa.com.

Sources: Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/1364; European Commission draft delegated regulation on a data centre rating scheme (21 September 2026); Directive (EU) 2023/1791.