Overcoming Barriers to a Sustainable Future

As environmental regulations evolve, and businesses demand greener solutions, data centres must build sustainability into their ongoing strategies. The sustainability challenges are diverse including spiralling energy consumption, restrictions on water usage and curbs on greenhouse gas emissions. And with the rise of 5G that will herald a new age of connectivity demand for data services will continue to rise. Swedish researcher and author Anders Andrae calculates that, in a worst-case scenario, data centres could account for seven per cent of global electricity demand by 2030, exactly one-third of the demand projected for the entire ICT industry. Faced with the dilemma many of the largest data centre providers have created plans for environmental initiatives in response. But a full commitment to sustainability necessitates a cradle to grave approach – environmental ambitions must be built into every aspect of data centre design, construction and operation.