I N D U S T R Y I N T E L L I G E N C E just the ecological impact . This is less product-specific and instead about the ways you support your staff and what you do in the community . How many apprentices do you employ ? What community or charitable initiatives do you engage with and what impact does it have ? What are you doing to ensure ethical practices throughout your supply chain ?
Quantifying it can be hard but it ’ s a good way of getting a feel for the suppliers you ’ re using , and for your customers to see beyond the corporate image to the good work that you do . It doesn ’ t have to be entirely separate from corporate goals , just weighted more towards ‘ giving back ’ and doing the right thing for the right reason .
Goal # 5 : Align with public commitments ( and use it to assess others )
How do you make sense of all this ? How do others ? Public commitments , such as verified Science Based Targets ( SBTi ) and becoming a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact Sustainable
Development Goals ( SDGs ), provide frameworks to set your actions around . Part of the requirements for this is accurately reporting your Scope 1 , 2 and 3 emissions – you ’ ll need the support of your supply chain to achieve this though .
Once again , choosing your supplier can aid this process . Platforms such as Ecovadis are helpful here , with criteria that cover Environment , Ethical , Sustainable Operations and Labour & Human Rights . Rating well here can indicate a company that will be able to support you in your corporate sustainability journey – and on your project-specific requirements .
Goal # 6 : Consider End-of-Life
Lastly , in most cases the data centre being built now will be retro-fitted or adapted long before the electrical cables installed come to the end of their operational lifespan . You ’ ll also have cable waste from the installation process , packaging and cable drums to handle too . Be certain to feed these materials back into the circular economy by recycling . It doesn ’ t necessarily reduce your project ’ s
Deborah Graham-Wilson , Head of Communications & ESG , Eland Cables
embodied emissions but will help the wider industry .
It ’ s still a journey
Let ’ s be clear : it ’ s not a perfect route to sustainability – not all the answers are available yet . It ’ s about doing the best you can today , before iterating and improving going forwards . Yes , there are limitations , but there ’ s also a lot we can do to make specifying , procuring and installing electrical cables into data centres more sustainable . After all , digitalisation itself is a step towards that solution . �
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