CLR's chief technology officer Jim Smith says last year's results made it clear there was a need for clearer standards and best practices for green datacenters. There has been significant progress in that area over the past year, he says including the publication of green datacenter case studies by industry leaders, the development of green building standards specifically for datacenters, and widespread efforts to educate datacenter professionals on the practical application of that information.

"We're not there yet, but progress has been made, which is reflected in this survey," Smith says. "By contrast, what dominates this year's study is companies' concerns about potential government regulation and how that would impact datacenter operations."

Those concerns about are driving companies to accelerate the implementation of green initiatives to increase energy efficiency, he says. That's good news, he acknowledges, but adds that some concerns about government regulation may not be warranted. Federal government agencies such as the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency are making "good faith efforts" to work with the industry and advocacy groups like The Green Grid to spur self-management of this issue, he says, adding that he believes that approach to be the most effective.

Key findings of the new study include:

• 81% of survey participants said that carbon credits are now part of their green IT strategy - compared to only 18 percent in 2008.
• 73%of survey participants identified "energy efficiency" as the key aspect of a green datacenter.
• 53% said that the industry now has a clear definition of what makes a datacenter green, compared to 82 percent in the 2008 survey who said that there was no clear definition.
• 69% of survey participants said they were extremely or very concerned about government regulation.

Digital Realty Trust owns, acquires, redevelops, develops and manages datacenters. It has 13 million square feet in 75 operating properties in 27 markets in Europe and North America. Metrics reported in this study are based on Web-based surveys of 100 IT decision makers at large corporations in North America with annual revenues of at least $1 billion and/or at least 5000-plus employees. Digital Realty Trust did not immediately respond to a request for more detailed information including how the findings that weren't compared to year-earlier results actually compare to the year-earlier results.