Want To Reduce Your Data Center's Greenhouse Gas Emissions? Look At Your Scope 3 Levels

Data centers require a massive energy load to stay powered and the elephant in the room is the emissions they create as a result. Whether it’s from the data center itself or indirect sources, such as transportation services and outside equipment, the carbon footprint of data centers is increasingly coming under scrutiny in the midst of calls for greater sustainability in commercial real estate.

Data center owners are likely most concerned about Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions — which refer to direct greenhouse emissions from sources that are controlled or owned by an organization and indirect emissions associated with the purchase of electricity, steam, heat or cooling.

However, a report from the World Resources Institute shows that on average, 75% of a company’s greenhouse gas or GHG emissions come from Scope 3. This term refers to emissions from other sources in the value chain including construction, purchased goods, waste disposal, wastewater treatment and employee travel. 

One of the difficulties of measuring Scope 3 levels is the lack of primary data on these outside sources, and not being able to control the variables in the value chain. Schneider Electric, a global specialist in energy management, is working to solve this issue by devising quantifiable methods to display the data from Scope 3 emissions. This will help companies take more accountability and provide solutions to GHG-caused climate change.

“It’s more important than ever to better report Scope 3 emissions as they have a massive effect on our environment,” Schneider Electric Solution Architect Carsten Baumann said. “The time is now to take responsibility and reduce our carbon footprint instead of waiting 20 years to tackle this issue.”

Baumann said that when it comes to data centers, while Scope 1 measurements focus on diesel backup generation and Scope 2 measures the carbon released by electrical devices — particularly where data centers get their electricity source — Scope 3 is more about the supply chain.

Baumann said the shipping and manufacturing of the materials used to construct data centers play a large role in a facility’s carbon footprint.

“Depending on the source of construction materials and its level of emissions, we may see shipping and manufacturing generate up to 90% of a data center’s carbon emissions during constructions,” he said. “These levels can be lowered if a facility uses more sustainable sources, such as low-carbon cement and steel.” 

Baumann said that even if a data center is built using more sustainable materials, the company that owns it may lease space to a tenant that brings in its own materials, further raising a facility’s GHG emissions. This is why owners who are serious about reducing their emissions need to understand what their tenants are doing as well.

“If I’m leasing space to a company, it becomes a matter of what equipment they’re using in the data center,” he said. “We need to be more transparent to determine emissions from the types of racks and IT equipment a tenant is using, whether it is recyclable and the ultimate impact once the machines reach the end of their life cycle.”

Schneider Electric believes that this type of transparency will help data centers create a better life cycle assessment, including documenting the materials, water usage and what can be recycled to lower a facility’s disruptive impact on global warming. 

The company follows a number of steps to help data center owners create this transparency. These include creating a strategy for performance indicators as well as digitizing information to measure emissions and optimize data into digital tools. 

Schneider Electric works with companies to monitor these levels and discover the main sources of Scope 3 emissions. The company uses suppliers that meet its rigorous sustainability standards to help them further reduce their carbon footprint.

“We evaluate over 1,000 suppliers a year from raw materials to subcomponents,” Baumann said. “We train and audit them to help them pass the most stringent tests to ensure they actually use more sustainable materials. We’ve created a framework to help reduce emissions from between 25% to 50%.”

Schneider Electric’s Resource Advisor is a software application that helps businesses track their carbon, water and wastewater footprint in a timely and accurate manner. Baumann said by using this tool, companies can feel more confident when they report how they are reducing emissions to key investors. 

“Schneider Electric has created the Resource Advisor software app that helps businesses more securely and accurately report their carbon and energy footprint for better decision-making,” he said. “It helps investors get a more complete look of how a brand is utilizing its resources and the measures it takes to improve its reduction on global warming activity.”

For data centers specifically, Schneider Electric has implemented tradeoff tools called the Data Center Total Carbon Footprint Calculator and the Data Center Lifecycle CO2e Calculator that can help owners calculate and lessen their emissions before a facility is even built. These tools compare different power usage levels, IT loads, potential data center locations, power distribution and other factors that can help owners make more well-informed decisions when deciding where and how they will run their center. 

“Schneider has created ‘what if’ predictions by using our interactive tradeoff tools to help with data center planning, from building out now, outsourcing to a colocation provider or even setting a project in phases,” Baumann said. “Our calculations can help illustrate how data center changes impact carbon emissions and what can be done to reduce them over time and save on costs.” 

Baumann said that Schneider Electric will continue to grow sustainability efforts, something he believes should be a priority for all companies.

“There’s a sense of urgency for us to act collectively in the fight against climate change,” Baumann said. “We have to create a sustainability plan that’s ecologically and economically feasible to help target our goal of reducing global warming to less than 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2050.”

This article was produced in collaboration between Studio B and Schneider Electric. Bisnow news staff was not involved in the production of this content.

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