I N T E L L I G E N T T E C H N O L O G Y DIGITAL REALITY
Digital Realty’ s 2024 impact report highlights sustainability advancements
Digital Realty has released its 2024 Impact Report, showcasing the company’ s sustainability performance, including a comprehensive overview of its clean energy commitment, resource conservation and other sustainable business practices.
According to reports, the organisation’ s global footprint includes over 300 facilities in more than 50 metropolitan areas across 25 + countries on six continents. They serve over 5,000 customers, including a significant number of enterprises, network service providers and cloud / IT providers, through their PlatformDIGITAL global data centre platform.
“ Digital Realty continued to make strong progress towards its sustainability goals in 2024, reaching 1.5 gigawatts( GW) of renewable energy capacity under contract and matching 185 data centers with 100 % renewable energy,” said Andrew Power, President and Chief Executive Officer, Digital Realty.“ This reflects our commitment to build, power, and operate sustainable data centers, which is trusted and relied upon by more than 5,000 customers.”
2024 Impact Report highlights
Clean energy: Digital Realty achieved 75 % renewable energy of its global electricity needs in 2024, a 9 % increase from the prior year. The company ' s current renewable energy procurement program includes:
• 1.5 GW of new solar and wind projects under contract
• 8.8 megawatt( MW) of onsite solar installations
• 100 % renewable energy for its portfolios in Europe, Sydney, Singapore, Texas and New Jersey and all facilities in its North American colocation portfolio. 185 data centres matched with 100 % renewable energy
• Certified 100 % of its Zurich portfolio under the Swiss Datacenter Efficiency Association rating, including an industry first Gold + certification.
• Water: 42 % of Digital Realty’ s irrigation and cooling needs came from non-potable water sources and the company reduced overall water usage intensity( WUE) for its North American colocation portfolio by 14 % year-over-year through the pioneering usage of water-free based cooling systems.
• Fuel: Digital Realty continues to expand its use of hydrotreated vegetable oil( HVO 100), a renewable diesel made from waste fats and oils that is a replacement for conventional diesel in generators. The company has deployed HVO 100 across 30 global sites, covering 17 % of its global operating portfolio.
Sustainable buildings: In 2024, Digital Realty certified eight global data centres totalling 1.9 million square feet in accordance with sustainable building standards such as LEED and BREEAM certifications. Digital Realty now has more than 15 million square feet certified under green building standards.
“ The progress highlighted in our 2024 Impact Report was built on years of continued commitment to transitioning towards more sustainable operations,” said Aaron Binkley, Vice President of Sustainability, Digital Realty.
He added:“ As we look to 2025 and beyond, advancing sustainable data centre practices will require deeper innovation, stronger partnerships and continued investment in nextgeneration solutions, from renewable energy integration and water conservation to low-carbon fuels and green data centre design. At Digital Realty, we’ re committed to leading this evolution, ensuring that the infrastructure powering the digital economy is resilient and responsible.” �
Resource conservation: Digital Realty continues to fund and explore initiatives to use resources responsibly, including the electricity used to power data centres and the water used to cool them.
• Energy: In 2024, Digital Realty’ s energy conservation initiatives resulted in multiple achievements, including:
• Energy efficiency projects that are expected to have saved 42,400 megawatt hours( MWh) and 28,500 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent( MTCO 2
e) annually.
• US. EPA ENERGY STAR certification for 69 % of US managed portfolio by IT capacity, more ENERGY STAR certifications than any other data centre provider globally.
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