Data Center Summit: How Digitization is Driving Sustainability in Data Centers of the Future

Data Center Summit: How Digitization is Driving Sustainability in Data Centers of the Future

Overview:

Satish Nookala, Director of Asset Product Management at CyrusOne, served as a featured speaker in a Data Center Summit session, "How Digitization is Driving Sustainability in Data Centers of the Future," hosted by Data Center Frontier Senior Editor David Chernicoff and presented by Jon Gould, Director of Business Development Software at Schneider Electric.

In this session, the speakers discuss how strategy and digitization with connected software and digital services are helping data centers meet their decarbonization goals, including:

• what new regulations may mean for data centers and IT energy consumption,
• how the hybrid IT environment has evolved over the years and where it's going,
• how data center software addresses sustainability concerns, and
• a case study on how CyrusOne is meeting sustainability goals with digital solutions.

Watch the Session:

Watch the full session or read the highlights below.

Read the Transcript Highlights:

Satish, tell us a little bit about yourself and your role at CyrusOne.

I'm Satish Nookala. I'm a product director at CyrusOne specifically focused on operational technology. I've been in the industry for 20-plus years, working with various colocation data center providers and information technology companies. My journey has been, throughout the process, very closely aligned with data centers, and I've seen these energy demands consistently go up year by year. And with AI, I cannot imagine what those power consumption levels are going to be in the future. Sustainability is paramount, not only for the business; I take it personally. How we are preparing the next generation is quite important to me as well.

Why is sustainability important to you?

CyrusOne is laser-focused on sustainability because it aligns perfectly with our commitment to long-term business resiliency and responsible corporate practices. In the data center sector, energy demands are significant, especially now with AI workloads. Focusing on sustainability helps us mitigate environmental impacts, enhance operational efficiencies, and reduce costs. We are taking a proactive approach not only to drive innovation in our operational practices and technologies, but also to ensure we meet market demands and regulatory requirements effectively. We are trying to fulfill our responsibility to the communities where we operate.

Are you seeing more customers request sustainability solutions?

Absolutely. Our customers increasingly look for sustainable practices from their service providers. It's due to growing environmental concerns. They particularly value energy efficiency, the use of renewable energy, reduced carbon footprint, and sustainable building practices. Waterless cooling is one initiative that we are embarking on across all our new facilities. And our customers want to see real-time sustainability data, such as carbon emissions, power consumption, and water usage data. With our focus in these areas, we not only meet their expectations, but also support them in achieving their targets, which is increasingly critical under the watch of stakeholders and regulatory bodies.

Do you view sustainability as one of those next big battlegrounds? Is that something you're going to compete out there in the market with?

We already are. Showing our responsibility in the data center space is critical. Our customers are expecting us to show all these initiatives in real-time - the data that corroborates our efforts. I have no doubt the next generation of data centers, whether it's regulatory compliance or customer requirements, must be highly efficient. Power usage reduction and water usage reduction are key.

How do new climate disclosure laws in California like SB 253 and SB 261 impact CyrusOne in your operations?

SB 253 and SB 261 have a significant impact on how we manage our planning and environmental reporting. These laws demand greater transparency in how we communicate our environmental risk and mitigation strategies. We are investing heavily in advanced data monitoring and management systems to provide accurate real-time reporting. As more such regulations come into effect across the U.S., we are being proactive in compliance approach positions, and we are positioning ourselves as leaders in sustainable data center operations. Taking the backend specific steps in bringing the data together and taking a proactive approach are how we are mitigating some of these regulatory requirements.

How are you leveraging software within CyrusOne for energy management and to drive sustainability?

We are using the latest cutting-edge software like EcoStruxure Resource Advisor and AVEVA Unified Operations Center (UOC). These platforms not only boost our energy management and sustainability initiatives but give us vital insights into our operational efficiency and energy consumption, enabling us to optimize our energy use and reduce costs. AVEVA solutions are especially crucial for integrating operational technology with the IT business applications. The platform is designed and developed on ISA-95 (an international standard for integrating automated enterprise and control systems) and ISA-18.2 architecture (a standard for alarm systems management), essentially streamlining our sustainability efforts and managing our resources in real-time. It bridges the gap between IT and OT, so we can make more accurate and data-driven decisions. Operational efficiency essentially is going to be the foundational requirement for how to maintain equipment efficiently, how to make the equipment run at optimal performance, and especially reduce overconsumption where unnecessary. Maintaining efficient operational practices leads to efficient operations and efficient performance of the assets, which will reduce the carbon footprint for us.

How is AI impacting CyrusOne's business, its ability to keep up with sustainability goals, and some of the design and infrastructure needs you see from the marketplace?

For us, it's a dual impact. On one side, it drives significant operational efficiencies, which supports our sustainability goals. AVEVA UOC includes AI-driven predictive maintenance, which is helping us anticipate equipment failures, essentially reducing downtime and energy waste. On the other hand, as AI workloads increase, so does the demand for power, which is a big challenge to our sustainability goals. To manage this, we are utilizing efficient power management systems to handle these loads effectively. And we've always considered renewable energy sources and waterless cooling systems to meet these increased demands on sustainability. Ultimately, AI helps us manage our energy needs more efficiently from a technology standpoint. Our operations can be efficient and environmentally friendly. We are in a unique spot where AI power demands are increasing our footprint; at the same time, we are using AI to run our operations efficiently.

How is AI driving sustainability?

AI is a very powerful tool. AI needs to be integrated into operations so that it can give us actionable and smarter outcomes. For example, in the near future, AI can help manage our cooling systems more intelligently. If you feed real-time data coupled with external weather conditions, internal load demands, etc., it can give us precise predictive maintenance capabilities and manage load balance, dynamically managing cooling loads.

How is CyrusOne bridging the gap between IT and OT?

Adopting ISA-95 architecture is how we are bridging by enabling integrations between operational technology, etc., providing relevant information to our business applications and business intelligence portals. We are able to make much more rapid, informed decisions.

Is there one final thought you'd like to leave us with?

The data center industry is going to go through a lot of transformation in the next year to two years. The demand for power is going to be significantly increasing because of the AI workload. So, as a technologist, we try to leverage some of the best practices that are already implemented in other industries. ISA-95 and ISA-18.2 are at the forefront. Technology is the bottom line.

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