AirTrunk, a Asia Pacific & Japan (APJ) hyperscale data center specialist, has announced its commitment to Net Zero emissions by 2030, with what it calls an industry-leading approach to emissions reporting that has been developed specifically for hyperscale data center environments.
AirTrunk’s 2030 net zero target exceeds the objective set out in the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5°C by 2050, and covers Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, the company said in a statement. AirTrunk Founder and CEO, Robin Khuda, said:
“The climate crisis is one of the most important global challenges of our generation. By taking immediate action to reduce our emissions, we are making an important commitment to our employees, investors, customers, partners and communities, for generations to come. As the pioneer of hyperscale data centers in the region, we are also pioneering a global standard for managing Net Zero emissions in hyperscale data center environments. It is based on transparency, accountability and customer collaboration, and balances climate ambition with emissions ownership.”
Managing Net Zero Emissions
Generally, customer electricity consumption accounts for the majority of carbon emissions associated with AirTrunk data centers. AirTrunk’s customers, some of the world’s leading technology companies, have their own public climate targets and are global leaders in renewable energy procurement.
In this backdrop, AirTrunk will enable customers to take ownership and responsibility for their electricity consumption within AirTrunk data centers and manage the associated emissions under their own emission reduction targets. In this case, AirTrunk will report these emissions under Scope 3 (AirTrunk value chain emissions). Damien Spillane, AirTrunk Chief Technology Officer, said:
“It remains our goal to set the industry standard in sustainability across the Asia Pacific and Japan region, and our Net Zero approach puts us in a position to pave the way in data center emissions reporting. The approach leverages the strategies and competencies of our customers while enabling interoperable carbon ledgers and ensuring zero double-counting.”
AirTrunk is continuing to achieve carbon neutrality for its Scope 1 emissions, as well as the Scope 2 emissions from its corporate head offices. The company will continue to monitor, measure and report its Scope 3 emissions, and develop a roadmap to manage these emissions in the future, it said.
AirTrunk has recognised that it plays a key role for the electricity consumed in its data centers and will report any emissions that are not managed by customers, under Scope 2.
Further, it plans to achieve Net Zero for these emissions through the procurement of renewable energy and has committed to safeguarding that 100% of electricity consumed at its data centers is covered under a Net Zero target (whether by AirTrunk or its customer).
From an Energy Efficiency perspective, AirTrunk said that its achievement of 1.35 annual average operating Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE), which is 20 per cent lower than the Asia Pacific region average, and a year-on-year improvement from 1.37 in 2021.
Additionally, AirTrunk has put in place a new water management framework that ensures its (data center) water usage is both sustainable and productive. AirTrunk sets Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE) limits in water stressed areas and has established an innovative water productivity threshold that sets minimum energy saving targets per unit of water use, ensuring that water usage delivers significant energy and carbon reductions.
When it comes to Scope 3 emissions, AirTrunk, for the first time, has captured Scope 3 emissions across the value chain including emissions associated with embodied carbon, business travel, employee commuting and employees working from home.
Also, it reported that with regard to gender diversity, it saw an increase in the representation of women across its employee base to 32.6 per cent, from 27 per cent in FY21. AirTrunk added that it met all its Sustainability Linked Loan (SLL) KPIs in FY22.
Earlier this year, AirTrunk converted its A$2.1bn corporate loan facility into a SLL. AirTrunk Chief Operating Officer, Dana Adams, said:
“We have made substantial progress on the targets we released in our inaugural Sustainability Report last year, demonstrating our commitment to integrating sustainability across our operations. We will continue to responsibly manage climate risks and opportunities, while engaging with our stakeholders and redefining benchmarks in sustainability.”
KPMG has been engaged to independently assure selected sustainability information including scope 1, 2 and select scope 3 emissions as well as carbon offsets.
