Commercial, Energy Efficiency, Sourcing Renewables - October 14, 2020
CyrusOne shifts focus to design of energy-efficient data centers
CyrusOne sourced 18.2% renewable energy in 2019 and is in the process of designing data centers that are more energy-efficient from day 1.
Last month, the real estate investment trust committed to having net zero data centers by 2040, despite running an energy-intensive business with the 24/7 powering of IT equipment. In 2019, 98% of its Scope 1 and 2 emissions came from electricity consumption. Thus, designing energy-efficient data centers has become a key strategy, as outlined in its newly released 2020 Sustainability Report.
The company is focusing on three areas of energy-efficient data center design, of which the most prudent is minimizing data hall heat through the use of efficient equipment. This includes technology like high-efficiency uninterruptible power supplies, ultrasonic humidification and LED lighting, which dually gives less heat and creates less wasted electricity.
The other two areas of focus are implementing building management systems that use sensor networks to monitor and adjust heating and cooling systems and leveraging supplier partnerships to find high-efficiency equipment.
“As one of the largest colocation data center companies in the world, we have a responsibility to reduce the environmental impact that our facilities create and provide solutions compatible with a sustainable future,” Bruce W. Duncan, President and CEO at CyrusOne, said in a statement. “Our goal at CyrusOne is to empower our customers with creative solutions that help them scale new technology solutions while reducing our collective environmental footprint.”
Renewable energy is another key part of CyrusOne’s sustainability plan. Renewables made up 18.2% of their electricity supply in 2019, up from 14% in 2018, between procured renewables and gid-embedded renewables. The company plans to begin purchasing RECs to help reach its renewables goal but do not employ any such credits yet.
The new sustainability report detailed that up to this point its London I, London II, London III and Amsterdam data centers are all running on 100% renewable energy.
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