EDITOR’S QUESTION
HOW IMPORTANT IS A COLLABORATIVE
APPROACH TO ENSURING
SUSTAINABILITY IS AT THE CORE OF
THE DATA CENTRE INDUSTRY?
n November 11 2019,
BRE Global announced
the release of the Data
Centre Annex Pilot
which is to be used
alongside the BREEAM
New Construction International manual.
Developed with feedback from several
key stakeholders, the Annex provides
data centre buildings with the ability to
assess and improve their sustainability
and environmental performance against
the current BREEAM New Construction
International manual for new-build
projects around the world.
O
In 2010, BRE Global released the BREEAM
Data Centres manual for the UK market.
Since then, the industry has seen huge
developments from the approach in terms
of how data centres are used in operation,
to the way they are designed and built.
BRE Global has actively engaged with key
stakeholders in the data centres industry
to ensure the pilot BREEAM Data Centres
criteria annex meets the needs of the
evolving data centre market. Key partners
on this project have included global critical
environment specialist, Keysource, Future-
tech, Operational Intelligence, Carbon3IT
and PTS Consulting.
The annex combines elements of the EN
50600 series of standards for energy
efficiency with BREEAM’s own holistic
approach to sustainability, covering issues
such as water stewardship, building
www.intelligentdatacentres.com
management, materials and ecology,
offering new opportunities for data
centres to stand out in the market.
Shamir Ghumra, BREEAM Director, said:
“The pace of change in the world is ever
accelerating and BREEAM is continuously
evolving to help the built environment
move towards a net zero world. Data
centres represent a key part of the global
building portfolio and is one that has
shown leadership in moving towards
more sustainable design, construction
and performance. This new annex to
BREEAM will provide this important
asset class with greater assurance on its
sustainability aspirations for investors,
clients and tenants alike.”
Stephen Lorimer, Associate Director at
Keysource, said: “While we are starting
to see a change within the industry,
sustainability and environment factors
have generally taken a back seat when
compared to ensuring availability. This is
mirrored by most of the standards and
accreditations currently available which
tend to focus on service availability
and commercial considerations –
whether the design, delivery or ongoing
operations of an environment, rather than
sustainability practices such as the EU
Code of Conduct. We’ve been working
closely with BREEAM for over a year and
we think this new annex is a great step
towards ensuring sustainability is at the
core of the industry.”
Issue 12
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