"Data centers, which power our everyday digital interconnections—from online shopping and email services to movie streaming and video calls—have become essential. With over 10,000 companies worldwide relying on Equinix's digital infrastructure, this initiative offers significant benefits to companies seeking to reduce their Scope 3 carbon emissions, a crucial step toward our comprehensive sustainability program and climate neutrality commitments."

Jon Lin, Senior Vice President of Data Center Services at Equinix, said this in announcing the company's commitment to reducing carbon emissions for a sustainable environment.

Equinix, a company that provides digital infrastructure around the world, announced on the 7th that it will become the first colocation data center operator to expand the operating temperature range within its data centers to reduce overall power consumption.

Equinix aims to reduce the carbon footprint of its data centers while maintaining the operational environment for its customers, while improving cooling efficiency within the data centers. The company announced that it will define this through a multi-year thermal operations roadmap. With companies increasingly recognizing supply chain sustainability as a key element of their environmental initiatives, Equinix is ​​committed to helping customers reduce the Scope 3 carbon emissions associated with their data center operations.

△ Because IT equipment in data centers, such as routers, servers, and storage arrays, emit high-temperature heat, a powerful cooling system is essential for data centers. However, providing an excessively cool environment can also lead to unnecessary carbon emissions. Through this announcement, Equinix stated that it will play a role in driving industry change and shaping a sustainability agenda that everyone must participate in.

“Most traditional data centers operate within tight temperature and humidity ranges, over-cooling them,” said Rob Brothers, program vice president, IDC Data Center Services. “Equinix is working with enterprises to change the way they think about operating temperatures and practices within data center environments, and to drive industry-wide improvements in how data centers can be more efficient while still providing optimal service levels for mission-critical digital infrastructure.”

“Optimizing data center temperature improves operational efficiency, driving positive outcomes for businesses and the world,” said Sue Preston, vice president and general manager, Advisory and Professional Services, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE). “Through the HPE GreenLake Alliance, HPE and Equinix are delivering comprehensive, cloud-smart, and sustainable customer solutions.”

As part of a new efficiency initiative, Equinix is committed to maintaining temperatures at its global data center facilities at 27 degrees Celsius (80 degrees Fahrenheit), meeting the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) A1A standard. When combined with existing Equinix initiatives, such as optimizing the use of outside air temperature for data center cooling, this is expected to contribute to overall data center sustainability through improved efficiency as measured by Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE).

“At Equinix, cooling systems account for 25% of our total electricity consumption,” said Raouf Abdel, Equinix Senior Vice President of Global Operations. “This new initiative will allow us to control the temperature inside our data centers in the same way that consumers control their electricity in their homes.” He added, “We estimate that implementing this initiative across our global data centers will result in an overall 10% improvement in energy efficiency.”