Constructing datacenters accounts for 39 percent of their total carbon dioxide emissions, almost as much as operating them, according to an environmental analysis covering the entire lifecycle of a facility.
The finding comes from a white paper published by European datacenter operator Data4, which conducted a lifecycle assessment (LCA) of one of its own facilities with the assistance of design and engineering consultants APL Data Center.
It claims the results represent a comprehensive, scientific view of the impact it is having on the environment, as LCA is a rigorous framework for evaluating the effects throughout the lifecycle, including raw material production.
Data4 estimates that over 20 years, the carbon footprint of its datacenter comes to 12.6 million kg of CO2 equivalent, or matching the carbon emissions of about 300 French people over the same period.
The facility in question is a 5 MW unit at its Marcoussis campus near Paris, which makes it a relatively modest concern in comparison with many hyperscale server farms or those being built for AI operations.
The construction phase of the datacenter accounted for 39 percent of all the emissions, but this includes the production of equipment, and all the emissions accrued by the production of the building materials used in the facility's structure, particularly the concrete and steel. The environmental impacts associated with the actual construction project itself are relatively marginal, the report states.
Some Reg readers may recall that in 2024 Microsoft reported its total carbon dioxide emissions as rising by nearly 30 percent since 2020, despite its pledge to become carbon-negative by 2030. The Windows-maker attributed this to indirect emissions (Scope 3) from the construction and provisioning of lots more datacenters to meet the burgeoning demand for cloud services and AI.
For context, Microsoft is trying to address this by exploring use of "greener" concrete mixes, and even experimenting with datacenters made out of wood.
The operations phase of the datacenter's lifecycle accounts for most of the greenhouse gas emissions, as you might expect, at 48 percent. This comprises the consumption of electricity for operations: cooling systems, UPS and security systems, the report says. The remainder of the emissions is accounted for by things such as transport to the site and maintenance.
When it comes to water usage, Data4 claims that despite preconceptions, its direct water consumption is minimal, equivalent to the annual requirements of about a dozen people. Most of the water extraction connected with the datacenter's lifecycle is indirect consumption, with 57 percent through generation of electricity and another 36 percent pertaining to the extraction and transformation of materials.
Data4 says it does not employ cooling towers or adiabatic cooling systems, the latter using water evaporation to pre-cool air, which may explain this counter-intuitive finding. Water consumption is markedly higher in a facility full of hot-running high-performance servers stuffed with GPUs crunching through AI workloads.
According to the report, this Paris datacenter's water usage effectiveness (WUE) is 0.039 L/kWh (liters per kilowatt-hour), which it claims is 25 times lower than the industry average, so it is perhaps not indicative of datacenters in general.
As The Register has previously reported, facilities using evaporative cooling can get through a lot of water, but they are also relatively energy efficient. The datacenter industry contends that this may be the most sustainable solution in areas where industrial water is plentiful but energy comes at a premium.
Data4 also looked at the impact of the use of mineral and metal resources in datacenters. It found that overall, a facility requires enough of these to construct a 12 km railway. This covers copper used in all the wiring and in transformers, aluminum, and rare earth minerals found in batteries and uninterruptible power supplies.
Readers may be wondering why Data4 is bothering with all of this. The company says carrying out a comprehensive life cycle assessment puts its understanding of its environmental impact on a more scientific footing and helps to prioritize the right actions, such as reducing the amount of concrete used in construction, optimizing cooling, and recycling metals.
In light of the study's findings, Data4 claims it will be able to reduce the carbon footprint for each new megawatt of IT infrastructure it deploys by 38 percent by 2030.
"We are publishing this analysis in complete transparency, not only to guide our own eco-design actions, but also to encourage the entire industry to go beyond the usual indicators," said Data4's Head of Environment & Innovation Linda Lescuyer.
"A sustainable digital future is not only a statement; it must be built, piece by piece, on a scientific basis." ®
Source: The register