The action taken by Compass Datacenters to drive change on the ESG front in a rapidly evolving sector won it the innovation category for the IJGlobal ESG Awards 2024.

The independent panel of judges singled out Dallas-based Compass Datacenters to recognise the “significant demonstration of steps being taken in a critical sustainability industry”.

One of the judges said: “Compass Datacenters is acting now to transform the industry it works in and we should be applauding that effort as it is sure to bear fruit and will stand as a pioneer – even a benchmark – for its peers.”

Compass Datacenters – acquired last summer (2023) for $5.5 billion by Brookfield Infrastructure Partners and existing investor Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan – has set new standards for sustainable design, construction and operations.

It has long been a pioneer in data centre sustainability, and this deal enabled Compass to implement and deliver its sustainable data centres on an even larger scale.

According to the submission: “Data centres are critical infrastructure for the economy, serving as the foundation for technology that every industry depends upon.

“Given the scale and impact of this infrastructure, ESG initiatives in the data centre industry have a reverberating positive effect on sustainability globally.

“Simply put – greener data centres make all technology greener, including all the technology we use at work and in our personal lives.”

The submission continues: “Data centre sustainability is more important than ever before as demand for data centres has increased dramatically due to trends like cloud computing, artificial intelligence and the accelerating growth of data.

“To make these new facilities greener, Compass Datacenters has committed itself to developing the most sustainable approaches to building, leading to several milestones for the industry.

“Compass’ leadership in data centre sustainability was a significant contributing factor behind the successful completion of this recent recapitalisation deal.

“The new and existing institutional investors involved in this multi-billion-dollar deal believe Compass’ sustainable data centre campuses will enable the world’s largest technology companies to simultaneously achieve their IT and ESG goals.”

This approach starts at the very foundations as the construction industry is responsible for close to 50% of greenhouse gas emissions globally.

As a developer, Compass Datacenters is rewriting the sustainability story in construction, an industry more readily known for being dirty and unsafe than for pioneering innovations to support sustainability and safety.

Cement is the main ingredient used to make concrete, and its manufacturing accounts for at least 8% of all the world’s CO2 emissions. A sustainable design must start with more efficient use of concrete and reduction in cement.

Compass buildings use CarbonCure manufactured concrete, a technology that completely sequesters CO2, preventing it from ever entering the atmosphere. Every cubic metre of concrete produced using this technology saves an average of 37 pounds of CO2 emissions.

Concrete.ai is deployed at its construction sites while generative AI is used to optimise concrete mixes to provide the best recipe to minimise cement powder use and maximise sustainability.

Further, all of its campuses have moved batch plants on site to minimise diesel truck traffic and support safer communities, reducing transport-related Scope 2 emissions.

As to the design, Compass favours modular designs and prefabrication offsite which, along with advanced work packaging onsite, ensures buildings are constructed in an assembly-line fashion. This has significant benefits for creating a work site that prioritises safety and a desirable environment for a more diverse workforce in construction.

The submission states: “Incorporating modular and prefabricated components into a construction project can help to reduce construction site injuries and fatalities. With so much work done offsite, you have a less congested worksite. Fewer people, vehicles and moving parts is a solid step toward enhanced safety.”

It continues: “Prefabricated construction leads to fewer unknowns compared to a construction site. Employees enjoy regular hours, predictable commutes, better training, and consistent supervision. This industrialised approach to construction creates the safety, quality, cost savings and predictability to make construction jobs more desirable to a more diverse pool of talent.

“Modular methods of construction have not only made it possible to respond to skyrocketing demand for data centre capacity but to do so by supporting diversity and providing the safest working environment.”

Beyond these practices, Compass further prioritises sustainability as the first North American data centre provider to operate its on-site back-up generators using hydrogenated vegetable oil fuels.

It also uses a special roofing material – Sarnafill – to prevent creation of an urban heat island, and it has a “global zero waste programme” that to date (at the time of writing the submission) has diverted more than 90% of waste from Compass operated facilities.