Data centers are found in nearly every sector of the economy—financial services, media, high-tech, universities, and many others that operate data centers to aid in business processes, information management, and communications functions. The U.S.data center industry is in the middle of a major growth period stimulated increasing demand for data processing and storage, including advances in high performance scientific computing, increased use of electronic transactions,shift to electronic medical records, and rapid, global developments in developing countries such as China.This increased demand has increased the strain on the power grid and increased the energy consumption of information technology and infrastructure equipment. It is estimated that this sector already accounts for 60 billion kWh, about 1.5percent of the total electricity consumed in the U.S., for a total electricity cost of about $4.5 billion each year and forecasts point to a near doubling consumption in the next five years.

These forecasts indicate a significant economic opportunity for technologies that will improve efficiency by reducing electricity usage and improving operational management, thereby saving electricity consumption and reducing electricity costs. The projected savings in electricity correspond to environmental benefits through reductions in carbon dioxide emissions. The introduction of more energy efficient technologies and radical changes in operations will enable companies with large data centers to avoid reduced profitability caused by an increased use of virtualization. However, a mix of programs and incentives are necessary to achieve significant savings through energy efficiency improvements. The realization of efficiency gains will also entail coordination and collaboration among many stakeholders,including government agencies, universities, the information technology industry, electric utilities, and investors.
This panel session will address the vision for achieving energy efficiency in U.S. data centers. Panelists will address questions on the technical challenges, barriers to growth, and partnerships between public-private organizations. Topics will include:

· What is a data center and what are the arguments for and against a shared facility?
· How do we design a data center that satisfies the needs of highly diverse users, in industry,academia, and government?
· What are the infrastructure and space requirements for a data center for a make sense?
· How can a data center be designed to be extensible and upgradeable, while meeting user needs?
· How can improvements in technology, changes in operation, and better capacity planning and asset management improve efficiencies?
· What are the market barriers and organization issues that need to be addressed?
· What are some possible funding models for a data center?
· What opportunities exist on the state and local levels for developments andinvestments into data centers?
· What are the constraints for the University of Texas at Austin for constructing a data center in a public/private partnership?
· Where are the government and private financing dollars going for research and commercialization of data center technologies?
· Can we build a data center that is both a model of energy efficient design and that also creates a sufficient Return on Investment for the partners and potential customers over an extended period of time?