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Kyle Myers is the Vice President of Environmental Health, Safety, and Sustainability at CyrusOne, a leading global data center developer and operator specializing in delivering state-of-the-art digital infrastructure solutions. Based in Dallas, Texas, CyrusOne operates over 55 data centers across the U.S. and Europe, as well as under development in Asia. The company ensures the continued operation of digital infrastructure for approximately 800 customers, including roughly 200 Fortune 1000 companies.
Kyle holds an MBA from the University of Central Florida and a BS in Environmental Health and Safety from the University of Wisconsin. With 20+ years of environmental strategy and policy experience, he served as Director of EHS at Dean Foods and Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, and roles at USFilter and Chem Waste. At CyrusOne, he leads the team responsible for developing the company’s strategic vision and long-term plans for sustainability to mitigate critical business risks.
Seven years ago, when Kyle came to CyrusOne, the company did not have an ESG program. In that time, he has created a program of industry-leading transparency that challenges our competitors to embrace a holistic view of our corporate environmental impacts and find new ways to improve the communities and environments where we operate.
Kyle inspires colleagues with a commitment to transparency and the goal of doing not just “less bad” but instead “more good” for the environment. He believes CyrusOne should lead by example, pioneering new levels of disclosure around water and other ESG issues, sharing successes as well as failures.
Our industry’s biggest sustainability concern is climate impact, driven by high electricity consumption. To address this, Kyle rallied the company to set ambitious goals including a Climate Neutral by 2030 target with near-term targets validated by the Science-based Targets Initiative (SBTi). He collaborates with leadership and the power procurement team to integrate this into our business strategy and procure high-quality carbon-free electricity. During a time of 20% annual growth, we’ve decoupled carbon from revenue and started reducing our total carbon. Thanks to Kyle’s initiatives, in 2023 CyrusOne reduced emissions by 4.7% compared to 2018 despite a significant increase in business activity.
Kyle’s approach to sustainability extends beyond carbon reduction to what we call the “Big Four”: climate, water, biodiversity, and circularity, with a particular focus on water. As our global understanding of the impacts and risks of climate change evolves, it is becoming clearer that we can no longer take water supplies for granted. Some regions have plentiful water, while others are experiencing water scarcity with expectations of increased water stress in the next decade. Therefore, it is important for data center operators to evaluate the risks and benefits of water consuming cooling at each facility, based on local conditions.
In 2020, Kyle and his team pioneered the first ever net positive water data center, first improving efficiency, then restoring 120% more water than is withdrawn from the local watershed in partnership with Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF). Every year, Kyle inducts at least one additional facility into our net positive water portfolio, which in 2023 consisted of 12 data centers plus our US headquarters. In 2023 alone, our program restored 98.2 ML of water to the local watersheds — equivalent to the annual water use of over 230 households.
Under Kyle’s leadership, CyrusOne’s sustainability efforts have earned awards from Environment + Energy Leader, SEAL, and the Business Intelligence Group, while the Climate Disclosure Project (CDP) awarded the company an A- for climate disclosure in 2023. Kyle frequently shares his insights at industry events and conferences including CNBS, JSA TV, Data Cloud ESG Summit, and 7x24 Exchange to promote sustainability within the data center industry. After all he has done for our program and the planet, we think he should be recognized as a Climate Hero of the Year.
Nomination Title: Kyle Myers
