In Ireland , while data centres contribute to 2.2 % of total carbon emissions , they are increasingly in the spotlight when it comes to sustainability ,” says Garry Connolly , Chairman of GconnTec and Host of the Bits , Bytes & Banter Podcast .
“ That scrutiny drives a meticulous approach to creating sustainable solutions at every layer of the data centre ecosystem , from equipment manufacturing to construction , to operations . Every point on the job has to be the most sustainable solution it can possibly be .”
“ Much as we saw in the early days when data centres pulled from best practices of previously established industries in Ireland – i . e . pharmaceuticals , semiconductor , etc – we will see the same in reverse ,” Connolly adds .
However , Booth ’ s argument is that policies like these have caused a marked rise in instances of ‘ greenwashing ’.
“ Have data centre designers and their clients grasped this new paradigm ? Well , on the surface it appears that they have , but when you start digging , what you find is varying degrees of greenwashing . Yes , they are trying , but is it sufficient ? Is it really addressing the problem ? Does it show a lack of ambition ?” Booth asks .
“ A few years ago , I visited a data centre built in 1977 and , later that year , one built in 2019 . To the casual observer , there would appear to be no significant difference between them , so either the 1977 facility had been ‘ very ’ forward thinking in its design or designs have stagnated .”
And so Booth warns that , if the industry is to successfully preserve its current growth rate , sustainability strategies need to be considerably more sophisticated .
“ The ‘ Data Centre of the Future ’ needs to be so much more than the tinkering
described above , the ‘ let ’ s do the absolute minimum we can get away with ’ design philosophy – there is so much more that they could be doing .”
“ The data centre needs to be at the heart of a ‘ smart city ’, it needs to be the hub of a microgrid . We need to be using our electrical systems to provide ‘ energy flexibility ’ services to the grid and local prosumers ; we need to be sending our waste heat into district heating systems , urban farms , swimming pools etc . The building itself needs to be built from sustainable materials . We need to get a blank sheet of paper and go back to fundamentals ,” Booth urges .
sustainabilitymag . com 129