EDITOR ’ S QUESTION
ARUN SHENOY , CMO AND SVP SALES , SERVERFARM
Today , all data center developments are viewed through the lens of sustainability . But whether future data center developments should be defined by ecological considerations is a more complex question than it might first appear .
From the bottom up a net zero data center spans design and build , renewable energy resources , heat capture and reuse .
From the top-down sustainable IT within spans everything from software development to processor performance per watt to server refresh cycles .
Add utilization rates and whole of life asset management from sourcing to disposal and clearly 100 % measurement of sustainability remains an inexact science .
including those that are not currently data centers as the latest power and cooling infrastructure provides best ratings for GHG carbon emissions .
And once a building is completed and kitted out with mechanical and electrical equipment ( M + E ) the sustainability of its operation over a 20-year asset life will become the focus .
By now CIOs will have heard of the PUE , CUE and WUE metrics . Respectively Power , Carbon and Water Usage Effectiveness metrics .
The most established sustainability metric for data center power is PUE – Power Usage Effectiveness – which is a measure of the power entering the building divided by the electricity reaching the IT equipment to do ‘ useful work .’
The sustainability of a building development for large enterprises , commercial data center providers and cloud companies through GHG emissions reduction should start with an evaluation of the design and construction .
Before the developers , financiers , architects , designers , engineers , construction leads and contractors begin any project each stakeholder is being asked to consider the environmental impact of their decisions and actions . The accurate measurement of Scope 1 , 2 and 3 emissions of everything from steel and concrete to machinery to the building process itself is challenging .
It must also be considered that a new data center is not always a greenfield project . Smart developers avoid additional embodied carbon costs by making use of modernization and upgrades to existing buildings ,
In PUE terms the perfect number is one . However , this is not a measure of sustainability .
The short answer to the opening question is ‘ yes ’ data centers should be defined by sustainability .
It will require deeper collaboration between all stakeholders . Defining sustainability requires IT and M + E professionals working in harmony using common data , goals and incentives across the stack .
Smart developers avoid additional embodied carbon costs by making use of modernization and upgrades to existing buildings .
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