Guide to environmental sustainability metrics for data centers

Many companies are now reporting on sustainability as a supplement to financial reporting to demonstrate their commitment to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) programs. For companies in the data center industry or wishing to report on their data center operations, we propose 5 categories for environmental sustainability reporting metrics: energy, greenhouse gas emissions, water, waste, and local ecosystem. Standardizing these metrics will help with adoption, improve benchmarking, and progress sustainability within the industry. We propose 28 key metrics with definitions and applications for data center operators who are in various stages of their sustainability journey, and we also provide published industry-based target values for key metrics.