Facebook wants the world to open its data centers. Image: Robert Scoble/Flickr

NEW YORK — Facebook is dead serious about building common standards for efficient hardware in the data center.

On Thursday, the social networking giant launched the Open Compute Foundation, an industry association that aims to reduce the cost and environmental impact of the computers that run great swaths of the Internet. The foundation formalizes an effort the social media giant began in April, when it started the Open Compute Project (OCP).

In creating the Open Compute Project, Facebook “open sourced” its designs for...