BREEAM Data Centres Annex Pilot

0n 11 November 2019, BRE Global announced the release of the Data Centre Annex Pilot. Developed with feedback from several key stakeholders, the Annex will provide data centre buildings with the ability to assess and improve upon their sustainability and environmental performance against the current BREEAM New Construction International manual for new-build projects around the world.

In 2010 BRE Global released the BREEAM Data Centres manual for the UK market. Since then the industry has seen huge developments, from the approach to how data centres are used in operation, to the way they are designed and built. BRE Global have actively engaged with key stakeholders in the data centres industry to ensure the pilot BREEAM Data Centres criteria annex meets the needs of the evolving data centre market. Key partners on this project have included global critical environment specialist Keysource, Future-tech, Operational Intelligence, Carbon3IT and PTS Consulting.

The annex combines elements of the EN 50600 series of standards for energy efficiency with BREEAM’s own holistic approach to sustainability, covering issues such as water stewardship, building management, materials and ecology, offering new opportunities for data centres to stand out in the market.

Shamir Ghumra, BREEAM Director said “The pace of change in the world is ever accelerating and BREEAM is continuously evolving to help the built environment move towards a net zero world. Data Centres represent a key part of the global building portfolio and is one that has shown leadership in moving towards more sustainable design, construction and performance. This new annex to BREEAM will provide this important asset class with greater assurance on its sustainability aspirations for investors, clients and tenants alike.”

Stephen Lorimer, associate director at Keysource said, “Whilst we are starting to see a change within the industry, sustainability and environment factors have generally taken a back seat when compared to ensuring availability. This is mirrored by most of the standards and accreditations currently available which tend to focus on service availability and commercial considerations – whether the design, delivery or ongoing operations of an environment, rather than sustainability practices such as the EU Code of Conduct. We’ve been working closely with BREEAM for over a year and we think this new annex is a great step towards ensuring sustainability is at the core of the industry.