Why Proactive Sustainability Initiatives Start In The Data Centers

By Jason Low

Sustainability forms the heart of Southeast Asia’s political, corporate and societal agenda for the next decade. To fully achieve that requires an effective technology infrastructure.

Reducing plastic, incorporating carbon credit swaps, and focusing on renewable energy sources are regularly cited among an organization’s eco-commitments. However, Southeast Asia’s public and business leaders are increasingly recognizing that these efforts are futile without a sustainability technology strategy that starts in the data center. Digital transformation and surging data demands are placing more pressure on the organizations’ IT infrastructures, meaning more cooling is required to maintain optimal output.

This is fast becoming a pressing challenge for a tropical region like Southeast Asia, which requires leadership commitment, innovative solutions and nascent technologies to ensure data centers are powering a sustainable future.

Taking control of the escalating climate crisis

Asia is witnessing a surge in temperatures, surpassing the global average according to a research recently conducted by the World Meteorological Organization. The recent State of Climate report for the region published by the agency emphasized the need to take immediate action in order to avoid disastrous impacts on the region’s environmental and socio-economic fronts.

Furthermore, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF) and Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Asia will bear the most substantial and adverse consequences of climate change in the immediate future. Given the continent’s responsibility for 51% of the world’s CO2 emissions, with China, India, Indonesia, and South Korea standing out as the biggest polluters, more has to be done collectively to mitigate climate change.

Where does Singapore stand on sustainability?

For over half a century, Singapore has become a global financial and technology leader. However, the low-lying island is far from immune to the risks of sea level rises and climate change. As a result, the Singaporean Government has put climate at the very heart of its agenda beyond simply carbon-neutral goals.

Of critical importance are the additional requirements and incentives to help transition the private sector to more sustainable practices. The Singapore Exchange (SGX), for example, is set to broaden its mandate for the submission of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reports, making it compulsory for additional industries starting in the financial year 2024. In 2023, mandatory climate reporting was introduced for businesses operating in the financial, agriculture, energy, food, and forest products sectors. This obligation has now expanded to include the materials, construction, and transportation industries for the 2024 reporting year.

As part of Singapore’s Green Plan 2030, businesses can apply for funding to help them get started on their sustainability journeys. The Government has also launched the Green Skills Committee (GSC) to help boost the development of skills in line with industry needs and help businesses transform into a low-carbon economy.

However, the reality is that all businesses are underpinned and powered by data centers, whether on-
premises or co-location. These are the backbone of businesses’ IT and digital operations, powering everything from e-commerce to online streaming. As people and businesses consume and use more data, more power is required from these vast centers, creating a significant carbon footprint across the world. And with Singapore unveiling its reformed standards for data center practices, a huge element of the Red Dot’s environmental agenda may be set for a momentous transformation.

Water usage: a thirsty metric

Given that data centers require a great deal of energy, they produce a lot of heat. Without sufficient cooling, the servers can overheat, malfunction or even catch fire. Data centers either use air conditioning to lower the servers’ temperature or water for evaporative cooling. The latter is cheaper, and therefore a popular choice for many operators.

A liquid leap in efficiency

One emerging trend is precision liquid cooling technologies, which could be potential game-changers for organizations’ sustainability targets. These offer superior performance in cooling the IT stack compared to traditional air-cooling alternatives. They boast significantly higher heat transfer coefficients and heat capacities. Heat transfer coefficient, a measure of efficiency in heat movement, is notably higher in liquid cooling mediums like water. Water proves to be 3500 times more effective at transferring heat compared to air. Additionally, dielectric fluids, with their non-conductive nature, offer a safe and efficient alternative for direct contact with IT equipment.

Triple the impact

From a sustainability standpoint, precision liquid cooling technologies deliver improvements in three
key ways.

1. They are more effective in transferring heat
2. They require considerably less energy than air and
3. They have the potential to reduce potable water usage by up to 90 per cent.

As Southeast Asia moves towards a greener future, this technology adoption becomes imperative for data centers and will play a pivotal role in achieving regional and global sustainability goals.

Compared to Singapore and other global markets, ESG and sustainable business practices are still in the early stages across the rest of Southeast Asia. Nonetheless, there is a growing awareness and adoption of ESG-related policies by regional governments, signaling a positive shift toward sustainable business practices in the region.

As Southeast Asia navigates the complex intersection of technology and sustainability, the role of data centers, especially in managing water usage, becomes a linchpin for a resilient and environmentally conscious digital infrastructure. The question is now whether governments and industry players can work together to make precision liquid cooling not just a reality, but a mainstream component of the modern data center.

Ed. Jason Low, based in Singapore, serves as the Regional Director for Southeast Asia at Iceotope.

Water is significantly more effective at transferring heat compared to air. In terms of thermal conductivity, water is about 25 times more conductive than air. However, when considering the specific heat capacity combined with density (which influences the heat capacity per unit volume), water can be approximately 3300 to 3500 times more effective at storing and transferring heat compared to air. This makes water an excellent medium for applications that require efficient heat transfer, such as cooling systems in engines or heating systems in buildings.