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Equation 12 · Part 6 · The Physical Plant: Power, Cooling, and Networks in an AI Datacenter

=

PUE=EfacilityEIT=1+Ecooling+Edistribution+EotherEIT.\mathrm{PUE} = \frac{E_{\mathrm{facility}}}{E_{\mathrm{IT}}} = 1 + \frac{E_{\mathrm{cooling}} + E_{\mathrm{distribution}} + E_{\mathrm{other}}}{E_{\mathrm{IT}}}.
=

What this part means

The expressions on both sides represent the same quantity under the stated assumptions.

Its job in the formula

The equals sign connects the complete expression on the left with the complete expression on the right. Both sides must have compatible units.

The passage around this formula

Power usage effectiveness is the industry’s one universally reported number: PUE=EfacilityEIT=1+Ecooling+Edistribution+EotherEIT\mathrm{PUE} = \frac{E_{\mathrm{facility}}}{E_{\mathrm{IT}}} = 1 + \frac{E_{\mathrm{cooling}} + E_{\mathrm{distribution}} + E_{\mathrm{other}}}{E_{\mathrm{IT}}}. Uptime Institute, which has collected the metric since its introduction by The Green Grid in 2007, reported a weighted average annual PUE of 1.54 across its 2025 respondent sample, “marking the sixth consecutive year that this headline figure has virtually stood still.” Beneath that flat average the sample separates: facilities commissioned within five years of the survey averaged 1.48, facilities of 20 MW and above averaged 1.44 globally, and 15% of respondents reported 1.3 or better [ 3 ] . Google, disclosing its own fleet, states that “in 2025, the average annual power usage effectiveness for…

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Learn the underlying idea

An equals sign says that the expression on its left and the expression on its right have the same value under the stated definitions and assumptions.

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Sources cited in the surrounding passage

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