Released over a twelve-week campaign beginning on Earth Day 2026 (April 22nd), GreenScale’s sustainability commitments bring together the standards that will underpin the development and long-term operation of our next-generation data centre campuses.
Sustainability has become a defining consideration in the development of digital infrastructure. As data centre projects continue to evolve, customers, investors, and local communities increasingly want greater transparency around how sustainability is embedded throughout the lifecycle of a development and, importantly, how progress is measured over time.
GreenScale’s sustainability commitments have been developed to provide that transparency. Released over a twelve-week campaign beginning on Earth Day 2026 (April 22nd), they bring together the standards that will underpin the development and long-term operation of our next-generation data centre campuses.
Looking at the bigger picture
Sustainability is often associated with individual initiatives, whether that’s renewable energy, carbon reduction, or water efficiency. GreenScale’s commitments take a broader view.
Rather than addressing environmental and social priorities in isolation, the framework reflects how decisions made throughout the lifecycle of a campus contribute to long-term performance. Design, construction, operations, procurement, and community engagement all have a role to play and bringing them together provides a more complete picture of how sustainability is embedded into GreenScale’s ethos.
The commitments are supported by our approach of developing digital infrastructure in Europe’s emerging power-rich markets. By focusing on locations with abundant renewable energy resources and resilient connectivity, we are creating the conditions needed to deliver on our long-term sustainability ambitions.
Two pillars, one approach
GreenScale’s sustainability commitments are grouped into two strategic pillars.
Green Infrastructure
The Green Infrastructure commitments focus on reducing the environmental impact of GreenScale’s campuses while supporting long-term operational resilience:
🌿 Sourcing Green Energy: GreenScale will align its power sourcing strategy with the iMasons Climate Accord (iCA) Power Maturity Model, prioritising local renewable power generation and committing to operating its data centre campuses with a lower carbon intensity than the local grid, while contributing positively to the energy ecosystem.
🧱 Reducing Embodied Carbon: GreenScale will reduce the carbon emissions associated with the construction of its data centre campuses.
⚡ Decarbonising Back-Up Power Generation: 100% certified biofuels will power all backup generators under GreenScale control.
♨️ Reusing Excess Heat: All data centres will be designed for heat export, with GreenScale proactively seeking potential off takers.
💧 Minimising Water Consumption: GreenScale will ensure all its sites achieve a Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE) of 0.4 or below within 12 months of operations.
🌍 Achieving Net Zero Emissions: Achieve operational net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 and full value chain net-zero emissions by 2050.
Scale for Good
The Scale for Good commitments focus on the wider impact GreenScale can have on the locations we develop in:
🤝 Understanding Local Communities: GreenScale will work to understand the needs of local communities and how we can positively contribute.
📍 Prioritising Local Spend: Ensure that at least 10% of design and construction costs are spent within the country where the data centre is located.
♻️ Building a Sustainable Supply Chain: GreenScale will only partner with suppliers that meet high sustainability standards.
👩 Supporting Equal Gender Opportunities: GreenScale will strive for gender pay parity for the same grade within the same department.
🎓 Creating Early Career Opportunities: Create a minimum of 25 early-career opportunities.
📊 Sharing Transparent ESG Data: Deliver 100% of customer ESG reports within the agreed reporting timescales.
Embedding sustainability from the outset
GreenScale’s sustainability commitments reflect our belief that sustainability should be considered from the earliest stages of development rather than introduced later in a project’s lifecycle.
As CEO Dan Thomas explains:
“Data centre campuses are long-term infrastructure assets that will operate for decades. The decisions made before construction begins, influences their performance throughout their lifetime. That’s why we’ve embedded sustainability into every stage of our approach, from selecting the right locations to designing, building and operating our campuses. These commitments provide the framework that will guide that journey.”
The commitments were developed following a comprehensive materiality assessment aligned with recognised frameworks including the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB), helping ensure they address the sustainability topics most relevant to GreenScale and our stakeholders.
Transparency through measurable commitments
Publishing the commitments is only one part of GreenScale’s approach. We have also committed to reporting publicly against each of the 12 commitments as our developments progress.
As Anna Dowson, Senior Director of Sustainability at GreenScale, explains:
“These commitments reflect the areas where we believe GreenScale can make the greatest positive impact. By setting clear, measurable targets from the outset, we’re creating a transparent way to track our progress over time and hold ourselves accountable as our campuses move through development and into operation.”
A shared benchmark for the future
By publishing measurable commitments and reporting progress transparently, GreenScale is providing greater visibility into our approach to sustainable development. More importantly, the commitments establish a shared benchmark against which progress can be measured as GreenScale’s campuses move from development into operation.