Intelligent Coordination for Sustainable Computing
Optimise energy use, support grid stability, and maximise renewables while scaling sustainably.
An AI training run can cause power swings over 200MW in 40ms, like a quarter-million people joining the grid. WDPC standardises communication between workloads and infrastructure, preventing these swings from destabilising power systems and wasting renewable energy.
Developed with consensus from GSF member organisations
What is WDPC?
The Workload Dynamic Power and Cooling (WDPC) framework represents a fundamental shift in how computational workloads and energy infrastructure communicate.
Standardised Data Formats
By establishing standardised temporal data formats and interfaces, WDPC creates a common language that enables compute workloads, data centres, and power grids to communicate effectively.
Real-time Coordination
This common language allows them to coordinate in real-time without relying on prescriptive control systems. Think of WDPC as the universal translator for the energy ecosystem.
Grid Stability Support
It enables every component — from individual processors to municipal power grids — to share their needs, capabilities, and constraints in a format everyone understands, supporting a stable and responsive grid.
Renewable Energy Optimisation
This approach transforms isolated "energy islands" into an intelligent, connected network capable of handling demanding computational tasks while optimising renewable energy use and overall grid stability.
Why WDPC Matters
The rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) is creating unprecedented challenges for our energy infrastructure and unique opportunities for innovation.
Industry Impact
The computational demands of modern architecture are becoming increasingly volatile. A single large language model training session can cause power fluctuations that would have been unimaginable just years ago. WDPC addresses this critical challenge by providing the data foundation that enables facilities to participate in energy markets, demand response programmes, and renewable energy optimisation. Going beyond managing today's workloads, it helps build the infrastructure for a future where computation and sustainability are inseparable.
Business Benefits
Grid Stability enables load forecasting and demand response that prevents costly disruptions
Carbon Optimisation schedules workloads to run when renewable energy is abundant
Cost Reduction participates in energy markets and dynamic pricing programmes
Heat Recovery coordinates waste heat delivery to municipal heating systems
Infrastructure Efficiency improves utilisation through predictive workload signalling
Environmental Impact
WDPC converts environmental responsibility from aspiration into an achievable reality. By making carbon intensity visible and actionable at millisecond scales, organisations can automatically shift computational workloads to times when clean energy is abundant. The framework enables data centres to become active participants in the renewable energy transition, coordinating with grid operators to maximise the use of solar and wind power while maintaining the performance that modern applications demand.
The 200MW Challenge
Modern AI workloads can create massive, rapid power surges comparable to hundreds of thousands of households switching on ACs simultaneously, risking grid destabilisation and increased carbon emissions. WDPC prevents this by enabling predictive coordination: workloads share their plans, grids adjust in advance, and the system adapts in real time, ensuring stability, efficient renewable use, and sustainable performance.
A New Architecture for Energy Intelligence
A Platform for Energy Innovation
Connecting traditionally disparate components in the data centre via a data bus to develop novel approaches to power management.
Coordinate AI Model Training
Schedule compute-heavy tasks when renewable energy is abundant, with workloads signalling power needs in advance.
Grid Stability Support
Help grid operators forecast demand and participate in energy management programmes through standardised interfaces.
Municipal Heat Recovery
Redirect data centre heat to district heating networks, turning excess thermal energy into a community resource.
Carbon-Aware Computing
Schedule workloads based on grid carbon intensity, optimising tasks to use cleaner energy.
WDPC Audience
Developers
WDPC gives you the data foundation to build truly carbon-aware applications. Through standardised APIs, your services can receive real-time signals about grid carbon intensity, infrastructure capacity, and renewable energy availability.
While you design the logic, WDPC ensures you have consistent, reliable data to make intelligent scheduling decisions.
Business Leaders
WDPC opens doors to energy market participation and demand response programmes that were previously inaccessible. With standardised data exchange, your facilities gain the visibility needed to optimise energy costs and demonstrate sustainability progress with real metrics.
As AI workloads grow, WDPC provides the coordination framework to scale intelligently.
Sustainability Teams
WDPC brings clarity to sustainability measurement by standardising how energy and carbon data flows through your infrastructure. You'll have consistent temporal data to track actual carbon intensity, measure waste heat recovery, and correlate workload decisions with emissions.
For your reporting system, WDPC ensures the underlying data is reliable, comparable, and auditable.
Leading The Charge
Project Leadership
My Truong | CTO, ZutaCore | WDPC Project Lead
Actively recruiting contributorsWe're building this standard with input from data centre operators, infrastructure providers, and sustainability experts worldwide. Your expertise can help shape how the industry coordinates energy for decades to come.
Journey to Transformation
Current focus: The specification is actively developing, and experts, operators, and sustainability practitioners are invited to refine and validate it.
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May 2025
Proposal
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Current
Pre-Draft
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Nov/Dec 2025
Draft
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Dec 2025
Consistency Review
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Feb 2026
WG Final Approval
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Mar 2026
SC Ratification
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Mar 2026
Publication
Dive Deeper
Contribute to the Project
GSF Members OnlyWork on the WDPC codebase — open issues, submit PRs, and collaborate on implementation.
View Repository →
Shape the Specification
GSF Members OnlyReview the WDPC spec draft and data models; propose changes and provide technical feedback.
Read Specification →
Architecture Visualisation
GSF Members OnlySee how WDPC's central data bus architecture enables real-time coordination.
View Architecture →
Hardware Standards WG
GSF Members OnlyJoin the working group overseeing WDPC and other hardware sustainability standards.
Join Working Group →Get Involved
WDPC is a path toward intelligent energy coordination. We need diverse perspectives to ensure this standard serves the entire ecosystem.
