EdgeConneX Receives Highest Ranking
Data centers are critical infrastructure resources for enabling the products, services, and technologies that power businesses, education, healthcare, sciences, content, transportation, and so much more. At EdgeConneX, applying the experience gained after more than a decade of developing hyperlocal to large-scale data centers, we continue to focus on sustainably deploying the right solutions in the right locations for our customers and the communities we serve.
Operating 80+ data centers in more than 50 unique markets across the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East, EdgeConneX also remains firmly intent on meeting our long-standing commitment to operate a carbon-, water-, and waste-neutral global data center platform powered by 100% renewable energy by 2030. With rising demand for cloud services, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and HPC (High Performance Computing), we are focused on building and operating where our customers want to go as we expand into new markets, grow in our existing markets, and align our product mix with new and proven services, innovations, and technologies.
Throughout this period of extreme growth, our commitment to Sustainability has deepened, leading to the adoption of renewable energy, energy-efficient equipment, and carbon mitigation strategies across our footprint. With an eye on transparency, we’ve tracked our progress year after year from 2020 with published Sustainability reports that can be found on our website. Our latest 2022 report reflects our belief that Sustainability comprises a composite of topics, metrics, and initiatives, from GHG emissions and water usage to worker safety, renewable energy sourcing and business ethics and integrity. We measure all of these, and more, as part of our long-standing commitment to building a Sustainable future.
A Deeper Look and Some Notable Industry Insights
In its 2023 State of Environmental Impact Report, Structure Research analyzed 29 data center providers and nine hyperscale platforms that have published at least one ESG report. Data from these reports show that the industry’s carbon emissions and resource consumption have increased since 2019 due to expanding IT infrastructure. The industry’s growth and the rise of AI will continue to intensify resource use and emissions, but achieving net-zero emissions is possible with an emphasis on improved operational efficiency and higher adoption of renewable and carbon-free energy sources.
EdgeConneX earned an optimal placement on Structure Research’s Sustainability Quadrant, further showcasing our deep commitment to efficiency and transparency. See the chart below for the placement comparing the data center providers included in Structure Research’s report:
Regarding renewables, our 2022 Sustainability report notes that EdgeConneX achieved a significant milestone with all our global data centers powered by 100% renewable energy, with additional impactful advancements deployed throughout 2023. One such program is a successful multi-year, AI-enabled 24/7 Carbon Free Energy program at our Houston data center that ensures the facility is powered with 100% renewable electricity by hourly matching renewable supply and time matching renewable energy credits. Looking ahead to 2024, we have numerous renewable technologies and carbon-free energy sources on the horizon, so we will demonstrate continued progress in this category.
Learn more about EdgeConneX approach and perspectives from Raj Chudgar, EdgeConneX Chief Power Officer in this short video.
As a global provider we are responsive to a growing number of constituencies, many with diverse social and regulatory priorities and processes. Our customers demand practical, sustainable options for energy, water, land, and operations with energized competition and growing demand for global solutions that will empower services like machine learning, AI, cloud, commerce, content, and more. And we confront these challenges directly while continuing to ensure that we are helping to lead the way for our industry to be a key contributor to Sustainable solutions worldwide.
Tune in to learn to this video to more from Haley Willis, EdgeConneX Environmental and Regulatory Engineer. As a purpose-driven organization with an ambitious growth path, we are taking urgent action to address these challenges. Together, we can innovate for good.
More about Structure Research’s 2023 State of Environmental Impact report: The comprehensive Sustainability Quadrant ranks ESG Leaders on three key attributes:
- Level of Transparency: The report recognizes ESG Leaders for their pioneering efforts in producing the initial wave of ESG reports.
- Operational Data Centre Efficiency: This category measures efficiency through three metrics: Annual Average Operating PUE, Carbon Intensity, and Water Intensity. AAO-PUE calculates actual energy efficiency, with a lower score indicating greater efficiency.
- Renewable Energy Usage: This attribute assesses the percentage of renewable energy used in a provider’s total data center energy consumption. A higher percentage means a higher score.
Additional Resources:
- Download Structure Research’s 2023 State of Environmental Impact Report HERE.
- Download EdgeConneX white paper: A Practical Approach to Implementing 24/7 Carbon Free Energy (CFE) for a Data Center HERE.
- EdgeConneX 2022 Sustainability Report is available HERE.
For questions, please contact info@edgeconnex.com.