Every day we are reminded that our planet is in distress—extreme weather events, ecological losses, dwindling biodiversity, land conversion, and frantic investments in renewable energy, just to name a few. Add to that the dramatic increases to resource consumption that our bursting-at-the-seams digital economy demands, and it’s clear why every data center—and every element of the digital infrastructure industry—needs to put environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles front and center in their decision making.
Even if you struggle to see the clear moral and societal value of sustainable practices, the commercial benefits are undeniable, too. Prioritizing sustainability at the heart of construction, design, and operational processes is not only appealing to investors, policy makers, and community organizers, but also helpful in reducing operating costs and increasing operational efficiency. As enterprises and industries look at innovative ways to scale, there is a reasonable rationale to look out for scaling IT workload in a sustainable fashion. It took BDx three years to architect their data center growth in Singapore from three floors to seven. The sanctioned power increased from 2.5MW to 19MW in that period, and the IT capacity jumped from 3.6MW to 12MW. Scaling smartly means scaling sustainably—otherwise you will face exponentially increased costs, at the very least.
From day one, BDx has made environmental responsibility intrinsic to their operations and customer engagements. In an effort to measure, standardize, and supercharge their efforts, they developed a five-part framework that they apply to every situation:
In terms of actual sustainability initiatives, BDx currently has five main frontiers:
1. Optimizing Energy. Energy-saving opportunities can exist even if the most hidden corners, and every little bit helps. By looking in the smallest of places for energy optimization benefits—in this case, by upgrading capacity—BDx’s SIN1 facility in Singapore improved energy efficiency by 20 percent and achieved Green Mark Platinum recognition.
2. Pursuing Renewable Energy. Through their collaboration with other ISQ portfolio companies like Hexa Climate (APAC’s leading renewable energy platform), BDx has a strong understanding of renewables and makes a conscious effort to source renewable energy whenever possible. BDx’s AI-ready CGK4 campus already involves hydropower from a nearby dam and solar energy through a partnership with GCL, and they also recently signed a Letter of Interest for a strategic partnership with PT Sembcorp Energy Indonesia, which involves a substantial purchase of green power up to 200MWac (400,000MWh annually) to power all BDx data centers across Indonesia with renewable energy.
3. Reducing Emissions. Through the Science-Based Targets initiative, the BDx building management system uses AI and real-time analytics to deploy the most sustainable and efficient technologies, like computer room air conditioning units (CRACs), powder distribution units (PDUs), and uninterruptible power supply units (UPSs).
4. Minimizing Supply Chain Footprint. BDx continually evaluates their supply chain to look for and minimize embedded carbon in construction and development activities across every step of their business operations.
5. Reducing Power Usage Efficiency (PUE). By optimizing airflow to conserve cooling power expenditure, building renewable solar lights, operating from compact areas to save land resources, and using AI monitor and control temperature, waste, electricity, security, and other resources and practices, BDx has identified strategic areas to reduce the PUE threshold to 1.3 even as the industry average hovered at 1.6 as of 2023.
In addition to the company-wide commitment to putting the planet and its inhabitants first, BDx’s most versatile and beneficial tool for fulfilling these initiatives is their 360°View platform referenced on the previous spread. This hybrid infrastructure management platform contains AI-enabled tools that work to promote sustainable practices from all angles:
- Holistic carbon reduction: The 360°View’s three-step approach to drive efficiency—baselining IT carbon emission, exploring reduction opportunities, and tracking savings— showcases a holistic strategy, setting it apart from other tools in the industry.
- Carbon Emission Tracking: By providing a solution for accurately measuring carbon usage effectiveness (CUE) with zero human intervention and from anywhere in the world, 360°View addresses the direct environmental concerns associated with data centers.
- Power Efficiency: By offering real-time reporting on power, the platform targets improvements in PUE and Coefficient of Performance (CoP) to make energy utilization more efficient.
- CFD Analysis for Cooling: CFD analysis ensures efficient data center design and insights into cooling system performance under varied environmental conditions. It helps to achieve optimal data center cooling, which leads to reduced energy consumption.
Having a holistic, 24/7/365 commitment to sustainability is critical to evolving both as a society and as a business, and BDx is a company who truly understands that.
