Data Centers and the Responsibility of Sustainability

Data centers are becoming more efficient, thanks to advances in technology and improved management practices.

April 20, 2023

What about a giant, clunky building is earth-friendly or sustainable? That is a great question. Less than five years ago, articles in the media were warning that digital infrastructure, such as data centers, could consume 20% of global energy by 2025. Many would be surprised to hear that the data center industry only consumed 1% of global energy in 2020.

In fact, data centers are becoming more efficient, thanks to advances in technology and better management practices. Today’s data centers are built with energy-efficient components and use innovative cooling systems to reduce their energy consumption. At Evocative, we are committed to continuing to invest in energy-efficient solutions to advance environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives, and remain at the forefront of contributing to global sustainability initiatives.

Evocative’s Commitment to Sustainability

Below are some examples that illustrate Evocative's deep commitment to sustainability.

iMason’s Climate Accord

Evocative actively contributes to the iMason’s Climate Accord on an ongoing basis to help advance the design, construction, and operation of digital infrastructure to reduce the carbon footprint. Together, we will work to achieve global carbon accounting of digital infrastructure to influence market-based decisions and drive the industry to achieve carbon neutrality.

Power and Cooling Efficiency

In 2019, Evocative shifted towards greener energy solutions in our Northern California data centers with the installation of airside economization units in our Emeryville facility, and the installation of high-efficiency precision cooling systems in our San Jose data center.

As a result of these upgrades, Evocative was able to lower our PUE ratio to 1.25 in Emeryville and 1.29 in San Jose (the industry average being 1.5 or greater), reducing the overall carbon footprint by over 1,800 metric tons that year.

Water Conservation

Our data centers PHX1 (Phoenix, Arizona) and DAL1 (Plano, Texas) use 85% less water and energy than the industry average. Evocative’s focus is to shift away from water-based cooling solutions while improving our efficiencies to reduce our impact on the environment.

Energy-Efficient Locations

Evocative Data Centers are located in areas with high renewable energy potential, so we are able to take advantage of clean energy sources. We also emphasize purchasing power from renewable resources.

Upgrades to Existing Data Centers

Evocative stays on the cutting-edge of data center innovation. As new and increasingly sustainable developments are made to advance data center efficiency, Evocative prioritizes making these upgrades to existing data centers above building new ones. This helps to reduce the energy consumption, use of natural resources, and electronic waste associated with building new data centers and decommissioning old facilities.

Looking to the Future

Data centers may not have started off keeping energy efficiency and sustainability top of mind. But that makes it that much more important for the data center engineers of today to assume the responsibility of keeping up with improvements, upgrading infrastructures, and ensuring that their facilities function in unison with the planet as well as public demand for fast and reliable data. Improvements like those of Evocative can go a long way if all data centers work towards reaching the goal of sustainability.

Our commitment to minimizing the carbon footprint while delivering fast, secure, and reliable service to our customers, proves that sacrificing quality for data center sustainability is not necessary. We look forward to continuing to promote sustainability as we continue to help advance these initiatives.

Today, data that is being stored is growing at an exponential pace. Data centers are only projected to keep growing and expanding to keep up with this demand. It’s that much more essential for the data center industry to take this opportunity to grow in the most energy sustainable way. We will continue to prioritize ESG principles across the organization to accommodate this explosion of data in a responsible manner.

Jay Smith

Vice President of Business Development