Proposal:Data center technical attributes

Data center technical attributes
Proposal status:	Voting (under way)
Proposed by:	LunaLune
Tagging:	input:electricity=*, it_power=*, data_center:floor_area=*
Applies to:	/ /
Definition:	Additional attributes for telecom=data_center to describe technical specifications: total power capacity, IT load, and usable floor area
Draft started:	2026-05-04
RFC start:	2026-05-12
Vote start:	2026-07-09 00:00:00 (UTC)
Vote end:	2026-07-22 23:59:59 (UTC)

Proposal

This proposal introduces three new optional tags to enrich the description of telecom=data_center facilities:

• input:electricity=* : Maximum installed electrical power capacity of the entire facility (in kW or MW)
• it_power=* : Maximum power available for IT equipment only (excluding cooling, UPS losses, etc.)
• data_center:floor_area=* : Usable floor area dedicated to server racks and IT infrastructure (in m²)

These tags apply to elements tagged with telecom=data_center.

Rationale

Why these tags?

As critical infrastructure with significant technical diversity, datacenters benefit greatly from the addition of standardized attributes. These tags facilitate enhanced infrastructure mapping by supporting initiatives like Open Infrastructure Map or DCWatch or Open Datacenter Map, enable more accurate energy analysis for estimating regional and national power consumption and carbon footprints, and assist researchers and policymakers in capacity planning by clarifying the distribution of digital infrastructure.

Verifiability

All proposed tags are designed to be verifiable:

• input:electricity=* / it_power=*: Found in technical datasheets, operator websites, or planning documents
• data_center:floor_area=*: Measurable from floor plans, or public documentation

Users can also use the source:*=* tag to indicate the source of data for a specific tag(See Examples).

Therefore, these are not subjective ratings but documented technical specifications, aligning with OSM's Verifiability principle.

Compatibility with existing practices

In line with generator:output:*=* for power=generator tag, quantities uses SI units with explicit suffixes (`kW`, `MW`).

Comparison with similar tags

Existing tag	Purpose	Why new tags are needed
generator:output:*=* (power=generator)	Max output power of a generator	Datacenters have multiple input power metrics (total vs IT load)
building:levels=*	Number of above ground levels in the building facades	Does not describe usable IT space
operator=*	Who runs or owns a data center	Does not describe technical specifications

Tagging

input:electricity=*

Parameter	Details
Definition	Maximum installed rated electrical power capacity of the entire facility, i.e. the design maximum used to size the electrical infrastructure, including IT load, cooling, lighting, and auxiliary systems. This is not the typical or average operating load.
Unit	Kilowatts (`kW`) or Megawatts (`MW`). Always include the unit suffix.
Verification	Operator technical documentation, public planning applications, or utility connection records

Usage: input:electricity=8.2 MW

it_power=*

Parameter	Details
Definition	Maximum rated IT power capacity available for servers, storage, and networking equipment, i.e. the design maximum or critical load. This excludes cooling systems, UPS conversion losses, lighting, office areas, and other auxiliary systems, and is not the typical or average operating load.
Unit	Kilowatts (`kW`) or Megawatts (`MW`). Always include the unit suffix.
Verification	Technical datasheets, operator specifications, or design documents

Important: This tag should NOT include power for:

• Cooling equipment (CRAC/CRAH units)
• Uninterruptible Power Supply(UPS) conversion losses
• Lighting or office areas
• Security or auxiliary systems

Usage: it_power=3.2 kW

Relationship with power input:

• Usually it_power=* should always be ≤ input:electricity=*. The difference represents overhead for cooling and infrastructure.
• In some rare cases, it_power=* > input:electricity=*. This may be due to on-site energy generation (gas turbines, solar panels, etc.). Users should therefore check the exact source (difference between pre-construction forecasts and actual values once the data center is operational).

data_center:floor_area=*

Parameter	Details
Definition	Total floor area exclusively used for IT equipment: server racks, network cabinets, and associated cabling infrastructure. This refers to the total area of the entire building, i.e., the sum of the areas of the various floors if there are multiple floors(building:levels=*). Excludes lobbies, offices, cooling plant rooms, electrical rooms, and corridors not containing racks.
Unit	By default, it is in squared meters. It is not necessary to include the unit suffix in the value.
Verification	Floor plans, operator documentation, or measurable from imagery for new constructions

Usage: data_center:floor_area=850

Note:

• building:floor_area=* - It defines the total floor area (sum of floor areas on the whole building). It includes IT spaces, offices, cooling rooms, electrical rooms, etc.
• data_center:floor_area=* is distinct from building:floor_area=*. It only specifically refers to operational IT spaces.

Examples

The data in these examples comes from various sources (OSM, technical data sheets, articles).

Example 1: Edge Data Center

 256764286 256764286
 building = yes
 telecom = data_center
 name = nLighten Chester 
 operator = nLighten UK Ltd
 ref: MAN1 
 ref:GB:uprn = 10000083172
 input:electricity = 6000 kW
 it_power = 3 MW 
 data_center:floor_area = 2040
 website = https://www.nlighten.com/en/edge-location/chester/ 
 source:it_power = https://www.2bm.co.uk/case-studies/nlighten-chester/

Example 2: Digital Realty MRS3

 159863825 159863825
 telecom = data_center
 name = Digital Realty MRS3
 operator = Digital Realty
 operator:wikidata = Q5275969
 ref = MRS3
 building = data_center
 data_center:floor_area = 7100
 source:data_center:floor_area = https://www.digitalrealty.com/data-centers/emea/marseille/mrs3

Example 3: Stockley Park Data Centres

 705085806 705085806
 telecom = data_center
 name = Virtus London5
 operator = Virtus
 website = https://virtusdatacentres.com/locations/uk/london/london5-stockley-park
 wikidata = Q138426503
 it_power = 24 MW
 data_center:floor_area = 10000

Example 4: Digital Realty PAR12

 846779443 846779443
 telecom = data_center
 name = Digital Realty PAR12
 operator = Digital Realty
 ref = PAR12
 building = data_center
 operator:wikidata = Q5275969
 website = https://www.digitalrealty.com/data-centers/emea/paris/par12
 data_center:floor_area = 5630

Impact on Data Consumers

These tags are data attributes, so that both data consumers and visual rendering could use it. For example, these technical data could be displayed in Open Infrastructure Map or DCWatch or Open Datacenter Map.

Features/Pages affected

If approved, the following wiki pages should be created or updated:

• Tag:telecom=data_center : Add new tags to the tagging table
• Key:input:electricity, Key:it_power, Key:data_center:floor_area : New dedicated key pages

External discussions

Here is the RFC link for this proposal.

Comments

Please comment on the discussion page.

Changes

• 2026-05-19:
  • Removing 'data_center:tier' from the proposal: legal issue
  • Renaming tags
    • data_center:total_power -> data_center:input
    • data_center:IT_power -> data_center:load
    • data_center:IT_area -> data_center:floor_area

• 2026-05-22:
  • Enhancing 'data_center:input' and 'data_center:load' definitions

• 2026-05-28:
  • Removing 'data_center:floor_area' explicit unit suffix from the value
  • Renaming tags
    • data_center:input -> data_center:power:input
    • data_center:load -> data_center:power:load

• 2026-06-24:
  • Renaming tags
    • data_center:power:input -> input:electricity
    • data_center:power:load -> data_center:it_power

• 2026-06-26:
  • Renaming tag
    • data_center:it_power -> it_power

Voting

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To get this output	you type	Description
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I oppose this proposal. reason	{{vote|no}} reason --~~~~	Replace reason with your reason(s) for voting no.
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Note: The ~~~~ automatically inserts your name and the current date.
For more types of votes you can cast, see Template:Vote. See also how vote outcome is processed.

• I oppose this proposal. OSM is not the right place for such details. Also difficult to verify. --chris66 (talk) 09:27, 9 July 2026 (UTC)
• I oppose this proposal. Impossible to verify. "technical datasheets, operator websites, or planning documents" will often be not appropriately licensed. Actual data that is verifiable (mapped building floor area) can be derived on the fly from existing OSM data. --SomeoneElse (talk) 09:22, 9 July 2026 (UTC)
• I oppose this proposal. OSM is not a platform for sharing research results. The data proposed to collect here is interesting but it is not readily available; research will have to be done to find this data, and when in doubt there's no way of finding out the truth unless you have access to - likely confidential - internal documents. I think we should only map what you can verify with your own eyes when you walk up to the data centre. --Woodpeck (talk) 09:32, 9 July 2026 (UTC)
• I oppose this proposal. See comment by User:SomeoneElse. --Nakaner (talk) 11:34, 9 July 2026 (UTC)
• I oppose this proposal. See comments and discussion --Nospam2005 (talk) 11:51, 9 July 2026 (UTC)
• I oppose this proposal. - "it_power = 24 MW" fails verifiability (yes, we have some tags that are having problems with it, that is not a good reason to make problem worse). I would suggest uMap or other overlay over OSM data Mateusz Konieczny (talk) 12:06, 9 July 2026 (UTC)
• I oppose this proposal. Despite offering suggestions early on, and the proposal improving because of them, the fundamental data providence issues have not changed. This will constantly encourage copyright/trade secret violations and would be better housed in a separate project better-positioned to shelter liability for data collectors. Campbelltree (talk) 19:46, 9 July 2026 (UTC)
• I oppose this proposal. As per others, verifiability & confidentiality --Fizzie41 (talk) 22:39, 9 July 2026 (UTC)
• I oppose this proposal. for reasons as others noted... As an alternative, perhaps you can add wikidata=* to datacenter linking to its wikidata entry and have details live there (e.g. instance of Q671224 data center with floor area specified with Q5460163 etc.). Additional benefit would be that wikidata will keep nagging you to provide references for each claim, thus helping with verifiability) --mnalis (talk) 13:11, 10 July 2026 (UTC)
• I oppose this proposal. Verifiability and I believe there is a way we can capture power already through existing infrastructure mapping. Data centers are just a particular (water and power hungry) piece of infrastructure. -- GA Kevin (talk) 14:35, 12 July 2026 (UTC)