CLEAResult Announces 80 PLUS® Ruby: A New Data Center Energy Efficiency Standard
New certification sets the highest global efficiency criteria for data center server power supplies
Austin, TX, March 12, 2025 — Today CLEAResult, North America’s largest energy efficiency, energy transition and energy sustainability services provider, announced 80 PLUS® Ruby, the highest level of energy efficiency certification ever established for data center server power supply units (PSUs) worldwide.
The rapidly growing demand for data storage and AI-driven applications is driving an urgent need for greater energy efficiency in data center operations. Currently, data centers account for approximately 0.4% of total U.S. electricity consumption, but this figure is projected to rise dramatically to between 6.7% and 12% by 2028 as storage, data processing and AI workloads expand.
“Achieving the highest standard of operations for data centers is critical as energy demand quickly grows and we are proud that the 80 PLUS Ruby certification is setting the example of what optimal data center energy efficiency can look like worldwide,” said Divakar Jandhyala, CLEAResult’s Chief Product & Technology Officer.
To address this challenge, the 80 PLUS Ruby certification introduces the most rigorous PSU efficiency standard in 14 years, requiring 90%+ efficiency across the entire power delivery system. This new standard provides the industry with a pathway toward higher energy efficiency, ensuring data centers can meet the evolving demands of cloud storage, commercial institutions and the growing strain on the grid caused by AI-driven computing.
Atthapon Sermkarndee, Senior Qualification Engineering Manager with Delta Electronics Thailand added, “We achieved three certifications and see the value in 80 PLUS Ruby certifications. It adds a level of trust in efficacy that the whole industry can rely on.”
As part of CLEAResult's Testing and Certification program, 80 PLUS badges certify products that have undergone rigorous testing and meet or surpass the program's established energy efficiency criteria. The 80 PLUS Ruby certification recognizes global data center standards for PSUs that achieve 96.5% efficiency at 230V, 277V, 480V AC-DC and 380V DC at 50% load, and 90% or greater at 5%, 10%, 20%, 50% and 100% of rated wattage. 80 PLUS also addresses light loading – when servers operate at low power levels relative to their maximum capacity – by introducing a 5% load efficiency requirement of 90% in data centers for standards and regulations adoption. This ensures power supply units maintain high efficiency, even when servers operate in redundant configurations or are unintentionally over-sized for their applications, reducing unnecessary energy waste and improving overall operational efficiency.
Jason Boehlke, Senior Energy Sustainability Practice Manager at CLEAResult, said, “It represents a next-level benchmark, providing the industry with a standard for both performance and energy usage.”
As data center operators face growing energy demands, regulatory requirements from Energy Star, the European Union’s (EU) Energy-related Products (ErP) directive and United for Efficiency (U4E) are also expanding. The 80 PLUS Ruby certification represents a future efficiency roadmap for standard and regulatory adoption.
Learn more about the CLEAResult 80 PLUS® Ruby certification program.
About CLEAResult
CLEAResult is the largest provider of energy efficiency, energy transition and energy sustainability services in North America. Since 2003, our mission has been to change the way people use energy. Today, our experts lead the transition to a sustainable, equitable, and carbon-neutral future for our communities and our planet. Our hometown teams collaborate with a diverse network of local partners to deliver world-class technology and personalized services that make it easy for commercial and industrial businesses, governments, utilities, and residential customers to reduce their energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. CLEAResult is headquartered in Austin, Texas, and has over 2,700 employees in more than 60 cities across the U.S. and Canada. CLEAResult is majority owned by leading U.S. middle market private equity firm Kohlberg & Company. Explore all our energy solutions at clearesult.com.
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