DESIGN & BUILD
“ As energy supply decarbonises, construction and materials will reasonably attract more scrutiny,” Gavin says.“ Data centre developers are not currently mandated to apply more sustainable construction techniques, though some local planning authorities encourage this. The drive to improve sustainability is therefore mostly voluntary, which never leads to huge traction or uptake.”
Looking ahead, as digital innovation continues to surge, data centres will be heavily prioritising uptime and efficiency. This could mean that changing construction methods may not be favoured yet, so as to avoid any potential risks, but the need for sustainability may soon usurp those concerns.
“ Pure DC is already investing in the development of products where conventional materials that have a higher carbon footprint are replaced with certifiable materials which capture and lock-in carbon such as biochar,” Ian says.“ We’ ve been in discussion with companies that can offer a reduction to concrete slab thicknesses and rebar tonnages by using an innovative, chemical post tensioning process.”
Gavin adds:“ Steel to the required grade can be made by more than one technique and by an array of manufacturing sites. A drive toward the specification of more sustainable, lower emission steel would be a more impactful strategy than investigating alternative materials.”
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