Data Centre Sustainability Challenges Facing Higher Education

Data centre sustainability has been a priority within the industry for over a decade. Yet, today, data centres still account for 3% of the global electricity supply and 2% of overall greenhouse gas emissions.

This makes sustainability a priority for the higher education sector as institutions increasingly analyse how they power and centralise their IT operations.

We’ll discuss the sector’s primary sustainability issues and what can be done to address them.

What are the environmental issues associated with data centres?

It’s no great secret that data centres raise many environmental questions. According to Gartner, it’s predicted that 75% of data centres will employ some type of sustainability program by 2027. Environmental concerns and cost optimisation drive the path toward sustainability. In short, it could be profitable to go green in today’s world.

So, what environmental issues must a data centre sustainability program examine?

Energy consumption

Data centres consume vast amounts of energy to power their servers and associated infrastructure. This incredible energy demand impacts greenhouse gas emissions and places additional burdens on electricity grids worldwide. As the industry grows, this is becoming an even bigger problem. Today, it’s estimated that data centres use more fossil fuels than the entire global aviation industry.

Greenhouse gas emissions

Data centres often draw their energy from non-renewable sources, such as coal and natural gas. Due to this energy need, data centres are directly responsible for significant carbon dioxide emissions. It’s why data centres emit 300 megatons of CO₂ annually.

Heat generation

During their day-to-day operations, data centres generate massive amounts of heat. All these facilities require intricate cooling systems to maintain optimal conditions. These cooling mechanisms require energy, and improperly designed cooling systems can lead to excessive wastage.

Water usage

Water is often used as the primary medium for dissipating heat. In particular, large-scale data centres will use water-based cooling systems. This can tremendously strain local water supplies, especially in regions already facing drought conditions, such as California.

Electronic waste

The technology behind the average data centre changes all the time, and this means that operators must constantly implement upgrades and replacements for their equipment. Over time, this creates a tremendous amount of electronic waste.

Material use

Did you know that many of a data centre’s emissions come directly from its construction? Various materials and chemicals are used to bring a data centre to life. These include:

• Cabling
• Fire suppression systems
• Cooling fluids

Improper management could lead to harmful substances making their way into the environment.

Land use

Where you build your data centre matters. Sometimes, data centres may require deforestation and disruption to local ecosystems to build. Unfortunately, large-scale data centres require massive amounts of space due to their physical infrastructure.

How do data centres work in higher education settings?

With these environmental issues in mind, do higher education settings need data centres to power themselves? Higher education institutions rely on data centres for a variety of functions, and this is why schools, colleges and research labs often require data centres to reach their potential.

Some of the ways data centres work in higher education include:

• Infrastructure Support – Data centres act as the underlying infrastructure necessary to control the IT systems of a higher education institution.
• Data Storage/Backup – Central repositories for digital data produced by students, faculty and administrative staff, with robust disaster recovery.
• Computing Resources – Additional compute for HPC and complex data analysis.
• Application Hosting – Running institutional applications such as LMS with central management.
• Connectivity – Network hubs unifying campus infrastructure and guaranteeing high-speed connectivity.

The importance of data centres for higher education

Why are data centres so critical to higher education institutions? Today, the IT needs of higher education have evolved. As new technologies are implemented in the classroom and researchers increasingly call upon next-generation technology, dedicated data centres have become a must-have.

Some of the purposes of data centres include:

• Data storage & management
• HPC resources
• Facilitating innovation
• Teaching and learning support
• Institutional operations
• Collaboration
• Campus networking
• Data security
• Data compliance

The data challenges faced by higher education

Higher education organisations face a range of challenges associated with data. This leaves sustainability a problem because the answer is not to scale back IT operations and infrastructure. As you can see, data centres are necessary to function optimally today—so these challenges must be solved through the lens of sustainability.

• Silos – Preventing data from becoming fragmented and unintegrated.
• Quality – Ensuring accuracy and consistency across systems.
• Security – Meeting the highest standards to protect students and staff and comply with regulations.
• Governance – Clear policies for handling and managing data across stakeholders.
• Systems – Ensuring physical infrastructure (in-house or outsourced) is fit for purpose.

Despite these immense challenges, confronting the sustainability elephant in the room and meeting the basic standards of a world-class data centre is possible.

How can universities make data centres more sustainable?

Efforts are already being made to improve the carbon footprint of data centres. One initiative is the Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact, which pledges to purchase 100% renewable energy to power data centres. However, individual data centres may need substantial changes to meet the standard of a genuinely climate-neutral facility.

Here are some ways universities can take action today:

Upgrade to new equipment

Keeping your data centre equipped with the latest equipment makes you more energy efficient overall. Older core electrical and mechanical components (e.g., STSs and UPSs) are common culprits. When disposing of older equipment, ensure components are correctly recycled.

Minimise bypass airflow

Data centre cooling can account for 40% of total energy consumption. Optimising airflow—especially reducing bypass airflow—improves cooling capacity, lowers costs and reduces hotspots.

Go ECO mode

UPSs waste energy in non-optimised modes. Economy (ECO) mode can deliver up to ~99% efficiency vs. ~94% in other modes; evaluate noise/power-quality trade-offs and apply where appropriate.

Use server virtualisation

Virtualisation divides physical servers into multiple VMs, improving utilisation, consolidating space, enhancing equipment usage and reducing energy consumption.

Equipment recycling

Commit to equipment recycling and reuse. For example, Google has reused its data centre equipment since 2007 by transferring parts between servers to repair or replace others. Work with certified e-waste partners to manage end-of-life responsibly.

How can the education sector implement a sustainable data centre strategy?

The education sector can take several steps to move to a sustainable data centre model—starting with a clear strategy. That might include designing a new green facility or gradually replacing parts of an existing one.

• Monitor energy usage to identify areas for improvement.
• Implement power management to shut down idle servers.
• Deploy energy-efficient technologies.
• Adopt renewable energy sources such as wind and solar.

Understandably, this is a significant undertaking for any higher education institution. Don’t worry if you need to move from legacy processes and systems to a new green future. Salute can help you every step of the way.