Welcome!
Welcome and thank you for taking the time to learn more about some of the recent developments driving enhanced data center power usage effectiveness (PUE), water usage effectiveness (WUE) and carbon reduction.
Efforts to improve these metrics aren’t new to the industry; however, there is a new urgency around them today as accelerating demand for data has been met with maturing technologies. The solutions of the past are not expected to be able to deliver the efficiency and resiliency required to meet the demand for data in the coming years.
This urgency is evident in the ambitious carbon and water-reduction goals, and the innovations being developed to support them, established by hyperscale operators such as Google and Microsoft. While these operators may lead the way, we anticipate that all data centers — whether cloud, colocation, or on-premises — will eventually make changes as operators start to take a serious and multi-faceted approach to data center sustainability that could include: Read more
Utilizing Gartner’s insights and Vertiv’s industry expertise, the articles in this newsletter review current developments related to each of these strategies. We hope you find the information valuable as we believe we all have a part to play in shaping the future of the data center industry. My hope is that these articles help inspire innovation and collaboration and guide us all to new methodologies.
Sincerely,
TJ Faze
Head of ESG Strategy & Engagement, Vertiv
The Road to a Net Zero Data Center
- Tiny Haynes, Philip Dawson, Simon Mingay
- 10 June 2021
Climate change and sustainability are driving boardroom and shareholder conversations about corporate social responsibility. To contribute to their organizations’ environmental stewardship goals, I&O leaders must understand their role to play in reducing carbon emissions and water consumption.
Overview
Key Findings
- Sustainability-related materiality issues for data centers are energy consumption, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (Scopes 2 and 3), e-waste and water consumption.
- Use of a renewable energy supply is critical to a net zero data center, but it is not enough on its own. Achieving net zero will require addressing Scopes 1, 2 and 3 GHG emissions.
- Net zero cloud services are very attractive to many I&O leaders facing major investment in on-premises services. Be mindful not to conflate 100% renewable energy with being net zero.
- Data centers running on carbon-intensive electricity grids, with little provision for renewable energy, could become a stranded asset or will carry a financial liability if they are subject to carbon taxes or pricing.
Vertiv Content
Enhancing Power Utilization and Efficiency
In the report, The Road to a Net Zero Data Center,1 Gartner recommends that operators, "Actively implement a radical energy efficiency and emissions reduction plan that falls in line with the enterprise net zero target or similar science-based targets."
Reducing Water Consumption
Today’s sustainability initiatives must encompass more than energy efficiency. One area that attracted little attention in the past but has now become a priority is water consumption.
Managing Higher Densities
As data center operators tackle the challenge of sustainability, they are faced with a competing challenge: meeting increased capacity demands and supporting more high-density equipment racks.
Moving to Locally Generated Renewable Power
The main focus of many sustainability initiatives today is reducing carbon emissions. There are multiple strategies being deployed to achieve this goal, including purchasing renewable energy credits and migrating loads to cloud or colocation facilities that have made the commitment to net zero operation. Yet it is becoming clear that for the industry to meet its long-term sustainability objectives, data centers must reduce their dependence on utility power.
