As a CSO, you’re likely feeling pressure from all sides. Pressure to work with the business to empower rather than inhibit it.  Pressure to keep up with ESG mandates, governance, and guidelines. And in the details, pressure to reduce your enterprise’s scope 1 to 4 emissions. And when it comes to High Performance Compute (HPC), data centres are a huge contributor to these metrics. 

It’s unlikely that reducing emissions is going to be achieved by reducing compute use. Instead, partnering with a sustainable, community-oriented HPC colocation provider, you’ll lower your scope 1 to 4 emissions and meet ESG guidelines. The pressure you’re feeling becomes an opportunity: to flip the script, collaborate with your local community, and positively impact the environment.

So, which elements of ESG and which scope emissions relate to your HPC use? Read on for our detailed breakdown, as well as a checklist of all the questions you need to ask before choosing the perfect colocation data centre.

Understanding HPC’s impact on ESG and scope 1-4 emissions

As you probably know, compute emissions can be huge. Just how huge? Let’s get specific. It’s estimated that data centres and HPC could account for up to eight percent of global emissions by 2030. As a CSO, you need to balance your enterprise’s need for HPC to scale and grow with the need to keep emissions to a minimum. Here’s how your choice of HPC colocation impacts your ESG and Scope 1-4 emissions.

Environmental

For UK data centres, this metric is influenced by the type of energy they use (renewable energy improves ESG ratings compared to fossil fuels, for example). A data centre’s efficiency also influences the E in ESG. Look out for a low Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) rating, which indicates efficiency in cooling systems and energy use.

Social

This element of ESG is measured by how a company impacts people and local communities. Data centres that donate their heat to local heat partners (such as swimming pools, greenhouses, or residential or public buildings) can reduce heating costs for those facilities, as well as reduce emissions by reusing energy. Positive social impact is especially important in the compute industry; proposed data centres that don’t factor communities into their build plans often face protests and resistance from locals, causing delays. Heat reuse offers you  a ‘social license to operate.’ 

Governance

When it comes to the G in ESG, you need to look out for a data centre that prioritises data protection and operational transparency; ensure they maintain the highest standards when it comes to protecting your data, as well as publishing their own sustainability metrics clearly and transparently.

Scope 1

Scope 1 refers to your enterprise’s direct emissions. So, if you’re leasing colocation from a UK data centre, the emissions from running your HPC will fall within the data centre’s Scope 1, not yours.

Scope 2

Scope 2 is all about the indirect emissions from purchased energy, aka the energy that keeps your HPC running. So, figure out if that energy is renewable, then get an energy breakdown per rack so you can calculate exactly how much you’re using. The other key consideration here is how efficiently you’re using the energy, shown by the data centre’s PUE metrics. The more efficient the data centre, the less energy wasted, so the lower your overall scope 2 emissions.

However, these emissions only fall under Scope 2 if you purchase energy directly from the energy provider to run your HPC. If the data centre itself makes the purchase, then adds it to your bill, those emissions described above fall under your Scope 3.

Scope 3

Scope 3 includes your energy emissions if the data centre purchases power and then charges you for it. This is because Scope 3 encompasses all emissions in your colocation provider’s value chain. As well as energy, this includes the construction emissions from building the data centre and the embodied carbon of the facility’s infrastructure. You also have to consider your hardware, including emissions from how it was manufactured to how you dispose of it. Make sure to factor in emissions from transporting this hardware to and from the data centre facility.

Scope 4

Scope 4 is where emissions get a little hard to pin down. It’s all about avoided emissions, i.e. the emissions your enterprise didn’t have a hand in generating. When it comes to your HPC colocation partner, consider whether they reuse the heat that’s generated by their operations. If so, the heat partners who receive the heat (like a public building, for example) avoid producing heating emissions. A data centre that uses renewable energy also avoids the use of fossil fuels (big tick), while efficient cooling systems avoid emissions because of, you guessed it, their efficiency.

The HPC colocation checklist for smart CSOs

So, what questions must you ask a colocation data centre to figure out if they’re the right partner for you? Here’s the crucial checklist, along with details of how each factor contributes to ESG and Scope 1-4 emissions.

Energy source

• Is the data centre powered by renewable energy?

• Affects: Environmental, Scope 2 or 3 (depending on who pays the grid for power)

Heat reuse

• Does the data centre donate heat to district heating systems in the local community?

• What is the Energy Reuse Factor (ERF)?

• Affects: Environmental, Social, Scope 4

Efficiency

• What is the data centre’s PUE?

• How does the PUE compare to industry standards?

• Affects: Environmental, Scope 2, 3, and 4

Transparency

• Does the data centre produce transparent reporting on its operations?

• Affects: Governance

Community impact

• Does the provider contribute to local communities?

• Affects: Social

Deep Green’s HPC colocation strengthens your ESG story while reducing scope emissions

At Deep Green, our sustainability story goes beyond our renewable energy usage and best-in-class efficiency metrics. Our heat reuse programs donate heat to local communities, so our clients reduce their scope 4 emissions and become part of a compelling ESG story. Beyond heat reuse, we continue our community involvement through programs such as Swim Hours, where Deep Green and corporate partners fund swimming pool entrance fees to help local citizens learn vital swimming skills. Our clients can also fund Swim Hours themselves, strengthening the S in their ESG narrative. In the words of Deep Green’s Matthew Bagwell, “We recognise our responsibility as citizens of the communities we are a part of; a Deep Green data centre is an opportunity for all our stakeholders, including our colocation clients and the environment.”

Interested in learning more about how our heat reuse programs power communities?