How the Datum Group is helping clients to achieve their ESG goals
Posted on in Blog
As a data centre provider, reducing our impact on the environment is a key priority for us as we strive for data centre sustainability.
What is ESG?
ESG (environmental, social, and corporate governance) is a set of standards that is used to measure an organisation’s impact on the environment and on society. Investors use ESG to screen investments based on corporate policies, increasing the focus on sustainable and ethical investments.
As consumer behaviour shifts towards a desire to do business with more ethical and sustainable companies, ESG becomes important as a means of encouraging businesses to act responsibly.
What is Datum Group doing to reduce its impact on the environment?
Power
All of our data centre facilities use renewable energy. However, it’s important to note that how carefully energy is consumed is equally as essential as where it is sourced from. Some real efficiency in-roads can be made behind the meter. Building Management Systems (BMS) can help organisations to carefully monitor energy usage, from the data halls to the offices, and allows providers to make data driven decisions about which areas of their facility are running inefficiently. This shows that they’re serious about reducing their carbon footprint.
At Datum our power agreement not only supplies us with energy from renewable sources, but also includes full carbon offsetting using forestry products from the Southern Cardamom REDD+ project.
Cooling
Our flagship data centre facility in Farnborough uses energy-efficient adiabatic cooling to maximise energy efficiencies using cost effective, state-of-the-art technology. This type of free cooling utilises a flooded airflow approach, significantly reducing running costs and our carbon footprint.
Other processes in place at our facilities include;
- Cold aisle containment to keep energy usage to a minimum by only cooling the areas of the data halls that house the servers.
- Under-floor cold air channelling to minimise wastage.
- Variable fans within condenser units.
- Highly efficient cooling pumps.
- Office space air conditioning controls to minimise wastage out of hours.
Battery storage technology
Our Manchester site uses a 2MW battery storage system with voltage optimisation which means we can store electricity from the national grid at times of low demand and discharge it during the most beneficial periods. This acts as a reserve during peak tariff times and delivers a stabilised voltage to reduce unnecessary energy waste and optimise the incoming power supply.
Alternative fuels
Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) is used in the backup generators of our London data centre facility. This is a fossil fuel-free environmentally friendly alternative to mineral diesel. We were also one of the first data centres in the UK to switch from red diesel to HVO.
Powering businesses forward, responsibly
At Datum Group we will continue to invest in the most energy efficient solutions possible, enabling our clients to host with one of the most responsible and environmentally conscious data centre and colocation providers in the UK, supporting them with their ESG goals whilst reducing our impact on the planet.