Intelligent Data Centres Issue 12 | Page 29

EDITOR’S QUESTION HOW IMPORTANT IS A COLLABORATIVE APPROACH TO ENSURING SUSTAINABILITY IS AT THE CORE OF THE DATA CENTRE INDUSTRY? n November 11 2019, BRE Global announced the release of the Data Centre Annex Pilot which is to be used alongside the BREEAM New Construction International manual. Developed with feedback from several key stakeholders, the Annex provides data centre buildings with the ability to assess and improve their sustainability and environmental performance against the current BREEAM New Construction International manual for new-build projects around the world. O In 2010, BRE Global released the BREEAM Data Centres manual for the UK market. Since then, the industry has seen huge developments from the approach in terms of how data centres are used in operation, to the way they are designed and built. BRE Global has actively engaged with key stakeholders in the data centres industry to ensure the pilot BREEAM Data Centres criteria annex meets the needs of the evolving data centre market. Key partners on this project have included global critical environment specialist, Keysource, Future- tech, Operational Intelligence, Carbon3IT and PTS Consulting. The annex combines elements of the EN 50600 series of standards for energy efficiency with BREEAM’s own holistic approach to sustainability, covering issues such as water stewardship, building www.intelligentdatacentres.com management, materials and ecology, offering new opportunities for data centres to stand out in the market. Shamir Ghumra, BREEAM Director, said: “The pace of change in the world is ever accelerating and BREEAM is continuously evolving to help the built environment move towards a net zero world. Data centres represent a key part of the global building portfolio and is one that has shown leadership in moving towards more sustainable design, construction and performance. This new annex to BREEAM will provide this important asset class with greater assurance on its sustainability aspirations for investors, clients and tenants alike.” Stephen Lorimer, Associate Director at Keysource, said: “While we are starting to see a change within the industry, sustainability and environment factors have generally taken a back seat when compared to ensuring availability. This is mirrored by most of the standards and accreditations currently available which tend to focus on service availability and commercial considerations – whether the design, delivery or ongoing operations of an environment, rather than sustainability practices such as the EU Code of Conduct. We’ve been working closely with BREEAM for over a year and we think this new annex is a great step towards ensuring sustainability is at the core of the industry.” Issue 12 29