Innovation & Emerging Issues

This indicator assesses whether the entity demonstrated innovative sustainability management during the reporting period, including which material issues it supports and how it is considered innovative (e.g., exceptional industry-level impact, firm-level value creation, and/or firm-level risk reduction). Innovative practices support continuous improvement, help address emerging risks and opportunities, and demonstrate emerging best practices in a rapidly changing industry.

Select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. If 'Yes', select all applicable sub-options.

• Selecting 'Yes' to the indicator requires:

  • Providing a brief description of the innovation in strategy and/or management in the open text box

  • Selecting the sustainability issue(s) impacted by the innovation and explaining why the approach is considered innovative

Note: 'Exceptional' means the innovation goes beyond standard practice and delivers a notable positive outcome for a material sustainability issue.

Open text box: The content of this open text box is not used for scoring, but will be included in the Insights and Benchmark Reports. Participants should use this open text box to provide further details, context, or comments related to the subject.

Terminology

Community

Persons or groups of persons living and/or working in any areas that are economically, socially or environmentally impacted (positively or negatively) by an entity’s operation

Community engagement

The communication, interaction, and formation of relationships between the entity and its community.

Lifecycle

Refers to the stage of development of the sites included in the reporting entity and is used to distinguish between sites that are under development and those that are operational.

• New Development: represents MW capacity associated with sites that were actively under design, permitting, construction, commissioning, expansion, and/or major renovation during the reporting year. This excludes land holdings that are not actively under development.

• Operational:  represents MW capacity associated with sites that were operational and delivering data center services during the reporting year.

Exclusions: Sites that are not energized – e.g., connected to electric power sufficient for operations – should be excluded. Facilities not functionally-related to data center development and operations are excluded from the scope of the data center assessment, e.g., offices, storage, logistics, maintenance, etc.

Material

Information is material if omitting, misstating, or obscuring it could reasonably be expected to influence decisions that primary users of general-purpose financial reports make based on those reports, which include an entity's relevant environmental, social, or governance disclosures.

Materiality Assessment

The process for determining and prioritizing which environmental, social, and governance issues are material to an entity.

Sustainability procurement

Encourage, facilitate or require the reduction of consumption of goods within the building or premises and/or the sourcing of sustainable or ethical goods. Clauses can relate to reduction of paper consumption, supply of biodegradable materials, use of recycled paper, building materials, etc.

Health and Safety

Protecting the entity's stakeholders from harm or death due to injury or disease. Often, this is executed by developing policy, analyzing and controlling health and safety risks, providing training, and recording and investigating health and safety incidents.

Sustainability strategy

Strategy which (1) sets out the participant’s procedures and (2) sets the direction and guidance for the entity’s implementation of sustainability measures.

Water efficiency

Actions undertaken to reduce water consumption and improve efficient use of water as a sustainable resource.

No evidence required.

This indicator examines whether the entity demonstrated exceptional sustainability performance during the reporting period, and whether that performance represents meaningful outperformance or a step-change in capability on material sustainability issues. Innovative practices support continuous improvement, help address emerging risks and opportunities, and demonstrate emerging best practices in a rapidly changing industry.

Select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. If 'Yes', select all applicable sub-options.

• Selecting 'Yes' to the indicator requires:

  • Providing a brief description of the innovation in measured performance in the open text box

  • Selecting the sustainability issue(s) impacted by the innovation and explaining why the approach is considered innovative

Note: 'Exceptional' means the innovation goes beyond standard practice and delivers a notable positive outcome for a material sustainability issue.

Open text box: The content of this open text box is not used for scoring, but will be included in the Insights and Benchmark Reports. Participants should use this open text box to provide further details, context, or comments related to the subject.

Terminology

Community

Persons or groups of persons living and/or working in any areas that are economically, socially or environmentally impacted (positively or negatively) by an entity’s operation

Community engagement

The communication, interaction, and formation of relationships between the entity and its community.

Lifecycle

Refers to the stage of development of the sites included in the reporting entity and is used to distinguish between sites that are under development and those that are operational.

• New Development: represents MW capacity associated with sites that were actively under design, permitting, construction, commissioning, expansion, and/or major renovation during the reporting year. This excludes land holdings that are not actively under development.

• Operational:  represents MW capacity associated with sites that were operational and delivering data center services during the reporting year.

Exclusions: Sites that are not energized – e.g., connected to electric power sufficient for operations – should be excluded. Facilities not functionally-related to data center development and operations are excluded from the scope of the data center assessment, e.g., offices, storage, logistics, maintenance, etc.

Material

Information is material if omitting, misstating, or obscuring it could reasonably be expected to influence decisions that primary users of general-purpose financial reports make based on those reports, which include an entity's relevant environmental, social, or governance disclosures.

Materiality Assessment

The process for determining and prioritizing which environmental, social, and governance issues are material to an entity.

Sustainability procurement

Encourage, facilitate or require the reduction of consumption of goods within the building or premises and/or the sourcing of sustainable or ethical goods. Clauses can relate to reduction of paper consumption, supply of biodegradable materials, use of recycled paper, building materials, etc.

Health and Safety

Protecting the entity's stakeholders from harm or death due to injury or disease. Often, this is executed by developing policy, analyzing and controlling health and safety risks, providing training, and recording and investigating health and safety incidents.

Sustainability strategy

Strategy which (1) sets out the participant’s procedures and (2) sets the direction and guidance for the entity’s implementation of sustainability measures.

Water efficiency

Actions undertaken to reduce water consumption and improve efficient use of water as a sustainable resource.

No evidence required.

This indicator identifies whether the entity implemented any innovative water resource management or protection during the reporting period, including the practices used and metrics applied to track progress or impact. Innovative practices support continuous improvement, help address emerging risks and opportunities, and demonstrate emerging best practices in a rapidly changing industry.

Select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. If 'Yes', select all applicable sub-options.

• Selecting 'Yes' to the indicator requires using the open text boxes to provide:

  • A brief description of the innovation in water resource protection.

  • An example of practises used to implement this strategy.

  • The performance metrics used to track impact or progress.

Open text box: The content of this open text box is not used for scoring, but will be included in the Insights and Benchmark Reports. Participants should use this open text box to provide further details, context, or comments related to the subject.

Terminology

Freshwater (<1000 mg/L TDS)

Any water that contains less than 1000 mg per liter of total dissolved solids (TDS). This is a measure of water quality.

Groundwater

Freshwater that is found beneath the Earth's surface that supplies wells and springs.

Recycled Water

Water that has been reused before discharge to final treatment or the environment. This can include water that was treated prior to reuse and water that was not treated prior to reuse. It can also include collected rainwater and wastewater generated by household processes such as washing dishes, laundry, and bathing (grey water).

Third-party treatment

Treatment of municipal or industrial wastewater by a third party. The treatment can be primary, secondary or tertiary.

Water outflows/discharges

Discharge of water to water bodies (e.g. lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers and groundwater) or to third-parties for treatment or use.

Water Resource Management

A holistic approach to managing water supply and water-related risks to help ensure sufficient water quantity and quality for competing demands, including drinking water, sanitation, energy production, food production, transportation, recreation, and the protection of ecosystems. This includes planning, forecasting, and identifying effective and environmentally responsible methods for managing water resources and maintaining cost-effective access to water.

No evidence required.

This indicator assesses whether the entity implemented any innovative biodiversity and nature protection practices during the reporting period, including the practices used and metrics applied to track progress or impact. Innovative practices support continuous improvement, help address emerging risks and opportunities, and demonstrate emerging best practices in a rapidly changing industry.

Select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. If 'Yes', select all applicable sub-options.

Selecting 'Yes' to the indicator requires using the open text boxes to provide:

• Brief description of the innovation in biodiversity & nature protection.

• Example of practises used to implement this strategy.

• Performance metrics used to track impact or progress.

Open text box: The content of this open text box is not used for scoring, but will be included in the Insights and Benchmark Reports. Participants should use this open text box to provide further details, context, or comments related to the subject.

Terminology

Biodiversity

The variability among living organisms from all sources including terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems.

Habitat

The natural home or environment of an animal, plant, or other organism.

Habitat enhanced or restored

Disturbed habitat that is identified and improved for the benefit of native animal and plant species that occur there.

Habitat protected

Habitat that is secured from impacts to prevent fragmentation, species extinction or reduction in range.

Habitat removed

Destruction, removal or displacement of natural habitat.

Threatened & Endangered (T&E) species

Animal and plant species that are either on the IUCN Red list, or have been designated as threatened, endangered, or protected, by local or national governments.

No evidence required.

This indicator examines whether the entity implemented any innovative practices to address technology adaptability and/or obsolescence risk impacts during the reporting period, including the practices used and metrics applied to track progress or impact. Innovative practices support continuous improvement, help address emerging risks and opportunities, and demonstrate emerging best practices in a rapidly changing industry.

Selecting 'Yes' to the indicator requires using the open text boxes to provide:

• Brief description of the innovation in technology adaptability and/or obsolescence risk.

• Example of practises used to implement this strategy.

• Performance metrics used to track impact or progress.

Open text box: The content of this open text box is not used for scoring, but will be included in the Insights and Benchmark Reports. Participants should use this open text box to provide further details, context, or comments related to the subject.

Terminology

Obsolescence risk management

It identifies and addresses the dangers of using outdated technology, from security breaches to operational inefficiencies.

Technological Adaptability

The capacity to adjust and evolve in response to changes in technology.

Technology Obsolescence

The risk that existing technology becomes less useful, less valuable, or no longer fit for purpose because newer and more effective alternatives become available or because support for the older technology is reduced or discontinued.

No evidence required.

This indicator identifies whether the entity implemented any innovative practices to increase electricity demand flexibility during the reporting period, including the practices used and metrics applied to track progress or impact. Innovative practices support continuous improvement, help address emerging risks and opportunities, and demonstrate emerging best practices in a rapidly changing industry.

Select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. If 'Yes', select all applicable sub-options.

Selecting 'Yes' to the indicator requires using the open text boxes to provide:

• Brief description of the innovation in electricity demand flexibility.

• Example of practises used to implement this strategy.

• Performance metrics used to track impact or progress.

Open text box: The content of this open text box is not used for scoring, but will be included in the Insights and Benchmark Reports. Participants should use this open text box to provide further details, context, or comments related to the subject.

Terminology

Demand

Demand response is a program or strategy where electricity consumers adjust their power consumption in response to signals from the grid operator, typically reducing usage during peak demand periods or when grid reliability is threatened. This approach helps balance electricity supply and demand, prevent blackouts, reduce strain on infrastructure, and can provide financial incentives to participants while supporting grid stability and integration of renewable energy sources.

Demand Response Program

Programs that enable a facility to shift or reduce its electricity use in response to grid conditions, system needs, or market signals.

Electricity Demand Flexibility

The ability of electricity users to reduce or shift their electricity consumption away from periods of high demand or grid stress in response to incentives or system needs.

No evidence required.

This indicator assesses whether the entity implemented any innovative e-waste strategies during the reporting period, including the practices used and metrics applied to track progress or impact. Innovative practices support continuous improvement, help address emerging risks and opportunities, and demonstrate emerging best practices in a rapidly changing industry.

Select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. If 'Yes', select all applicable sub-options.

Selecting 'Yes' to the indicator requires using the open text boxes to provide:

• Brief description of the innovation in e-waste strategy. Relevant e-waste categories may include IT and telecommunications equipment, lighting equipment, and monitoring and control instruments, among others.

• Example of practices used to implement this strategy.

• Performance metrics used to track impact or progress.

Open text box: The content of this open text box is not used for scoring, but will be included in the Insights and Benchmark Reports. Participants should use this open text box to provide further details, context, or comments related to the subject.

Terminology

Community

Persons or groups of persons living and/or working in any areas that are economically, socially or environmentally impacted (positively or negatively) by an entity’s operation

E-waste (Electronic waste)

Electrical or electronic equipment that is waste, including all components, sub-assemblies and consumables that are part of the equipment at the time the equipment becomes waste.

IT and Telecommunications Equipment

Laptop/desktop computer, phones, calculating devices, printers and scanners, copying machines, network cables, WIFI modems, communication satellite.

Lighting Equipment

Fluorescent tubes (straight and compact), halogen bulbs, LED bulbs, sodium bulbs, high intensity discharge lamps, etc.

Monitoring and control instruments

Data acquisition systems, microcontrollers, sensors, valves, smoke detectors, thermostats, heating regulators, etc.

Recovery of valuable materials

The process of extracting and collecting valuable materials from waste streams, including discarded equipment, so they can be reused or reintroduced into production.

Recycling of e-waste

The processing of discarded electrical or electronic equipment, components, or materials to recover and reintroduce valuable materials into use.

Reuse of e-waste

The use of electrical or electronic equipment, components, or materials again for their original purpose or for another suitable purpose, without becoming waste.

No evidence required.