Plugged In: Exploring Energy with Constellation - Episode 3

 Listen on your Preferred Podcast Player » 

Transition from Voluntary to Mandatory Sustainability Reporting

Historically, programs like the RE100 initiative and CDP involved a select group of companies voluntarily committing to clean energy and broader carbon footprint goals. However, recent legislation such as Europe’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is set to impact over 50,000 companies, compelling them to disclose their environmental impacts. This transition signifies a remarkable move towards regulated sustainability reporting, posing challenges for companies that need to quickly assess and address their environmental footprints.

The Growing Impact of Digital Footprints and Data Centers

Pennington explains how data centers are now central to sustainability discussions in terms of carbon emissions and energy use. These facilities, which house servers for hundreds of companies, require vast amounts of energy to operate, making their role crucial in decarbonization efforts. Alongside this evolution, more companies are facing mandatory reporting on emissions and energy efficiency. As a result, companies and organizations are now demanding more detailed, or granular, information on the sources of clean energy used in data centers, and the future of sustainability reporting will likely see continued focus on transparency and accuracy in this data.

Shifting to Hourly Carbon-Free Power

Renewable energy procurement is shifting from annual clean energy matching to a more ambitious, hour-by-hour approach. Google pioneered the 24/7 carbon-free energy goal, which aims to match every hour of energy use with locally sourced clean energy by 2030. Following this example, Iron Mountain adopted this goal in 2021, and by 2023, achieved 97% hourly matching of its data center energy use with carbon-free energy. As more companies and governments follow suit, the focus is shifting toward decarbonizing energy consumption in real time.

The growth of this approach is being driven by customers' demands for more precise data and reporting. Pennington highlights tools like Cleartrace that assist with tracking energy consumption and generation data. It helps visualize and compare the performance of energy usage against clean energy sources, making it easier for businesses to track progress and meet decarbonization goals.

Insights on Navigating Sustainability and Compliance

Pennington shares valuable insights from his experience in sustainability and environmental performance, emphasizing the growing importance of understanding carbon footprints and setting more granular goals for decarbonization. He also highlights the growing role of data in tracking and reporting progress, and the need for companies to prepare for emerging regulations and invest in compliance reporting resources.

Looking ahead, Pennington highlights growing opportunities for companies to innovate and create better business solutions that also contribute to a lower carbon footprint. He advises companies to align their sustainability programs with recognized standards like ISO, and to ensure third-party verification of their performance results. Finally, he reminds us that most often, better environmental solutions are better business solutions.

Connect with Chris Pennington

• On LinkedIn

Chris Pennington is the Director of Energy and Sustainability for Iron Mountain Data Centers. In this role, Chris oversees global energy procurement and aligns this with wider Sustainability objectives. In 2021 Chris received the Leader of the Year award from the Center for Resource Solutions (CRS) for work in developing innovative retail supply contracts and developing onsite solar at Iron Mountain Data Centers. Today Chris leads Iron Mountain's work on grid interactive data centers, developing demonstrator projects at two sites that he hopes will catalyze further deployment of on-site storage to convert data centers into flexible grid resources.

Connect with Constellation

• Follow Constellation on LinkedIn
•  Follow Chuck Hanna on LinkedIn
• Learn more about Constellation sustainability solutions