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CyrusOne operates data centers – large facilities that host the IT equipment that runs the internet and everything on it, from streaming services to corporate document storage to the fast-growing artificial intelligence industry. Due to the large amount of electricity this equipment requires, reducing our climate impact has long been a focus of the data center industry, often to the exclusion of consideration for other sustainability impacts.
In addition to its direct electricity consumption, IT equipment requires massive chillers and air-handling units to maintain the lower temperatures needed for proper operations. Many data centers are cooled by evaporating huge amounts of water – millions of gallons a month at a single facility – in order to reduce electricity consumption. This not only lowers a facility’s potential climate impact, but also saves. If the only sustainability impact that matters to you is greenhouse gas emissions, this is a good strategy.
However, water scarcity is one of the most commonly predicted consequences of climate change, and in many regions the impacts are already being felt. Approximately half of our facilities are in regions already experiencing high water stress, according to the World Resources Institute’s Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas, while other regions where we operate are predicted to become high stress by 2040.
In these regions, data centers that must consume large amounts of water to stay in operation are a liability. As competition for water increases, these facilities may face operational interruptions or require costly retrofits to less water-intensive cooling methods. Also, water issues could cause friction with local communities, damaging the reputations of companies and the industry at large.
In an attempt to do not only “less harm” but also “more good,” we have set a target to make all our facilities in high water stress regions into net positive water facilities. We accomplish this in three steps. First, we identify which regions are considered high water stress using our Water Risk Assessment. Then, we attempt to reduce onsite water usage through operational efficiency measures and upgrades. Finally, we partner with environmental nonprofits to restore water flows in these regions through verifiable mechanisms like Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF) Water Restoration Certificates® (WRCs). If we can restore at least 20% more water than we use, we consider this to be a net positive water facility.
CyrusOne’s largest US data center campus is located in Phoenix, Arizona, a region designated as “extremely high water stress” by the World Resources Institute. Therefore, when we opened our most recent facility on the campus – Phoenix (PHX8) – in October 2023, we were ready to continue our commitment to high water stress regions by making the new facility net positive water from the start. From October 2023 to January 2024, PHX8 consumed 106,250 gallons of water for irrigation, maintenance, and humidification, while using water-free cooling. To ensure net positive water usage, we restored 127,500 gallons, or 20% more than consumed, to the regional watershed. These WRCS funded irrigation modernization at the family-owned Tres Brisas Ranch on the Verde River, upgrading the previous flood irrigation system to a much more efficient wheel line system, improving river flow and benefiting wildlife. For 2024, we estimate PHX8 will consume about 610 thousand gallons and plan to restore approximately 730 thousand gallons.
PHX8 is just the latest member of our net positive water portfolio, which currently consists of 12 data centers and our US headquarters in Dallas. Over six years, we have restored more than 68 million gallons of water: 20 million gallons in Arizona and 48 million in Texas. In 2023, our annual restoration reached 25 million gallons, which will increase each year as we add new facilities in high-stress areas to the program until it includes all of our facilities in high-stress regions.
Nomination Title: Adapting to a world of increased water scarcity
