Data Centre Sustainability in Focus for MTD TV Panel Tuesday

The challenge of meeting the world’s hunger for cloud-based data while keeping on track with carbon targets will be the focus of a discussion featuring four experts on digital infrastructure this week as part of Mingtiandi’s APAC Data Centre Forum 2021.

The program will bring together top executives from data centre operators Princeton Digital Group and BDx Data Centres, alongside veteran advisors from JLL and law firm Baker McKenzie, for a one-hour exploration of strategies for enhancing the operation of existing facilities, designing greener projects and linking server infrastructure to renewable energy.

The panel discussion on MTD TV, which is sponsored by Yardi, starts at 10:00 AM on Tuesday, 14 September and you may register to join the show using the link below.

Already more than 800 industry professionals have joined the first three sessions in Mingtiandi’s APAC Data Centre Forum since the program began on 31 August as the industry tunes in to learn more about an industry which attracted $2.2 billion in investment across Asia Pacific last year.

Data Centre Carbon Footprint Grows

With consumers using more streaming services and enterprises shifting information infrastructure into the cloud, data centre capacity grew six-fold globally from 2010 to 2018, according to independent research, helping to drive opportunities for investors and operators able to set up and manage new facilities.

However, this hypergrowth has also created adverse environmental effects as data centres are now estimated to use 1 percent of the world’s energy and create more than 2 percent of global carbon emissions, or around the same amount as the airline industry.

With studies indicating that carbon emissions from data centres could rise to 3.2 percent of the global total by 2025, investors and operators aiming to meet carbon net zero targets by 2050 are quickly developing strategies to reduce data centre resource consumption.

Expert Insights

To learn more about how data centres in Asia Pacific are becoming greener, Mingtiandi is glad to have Chris Street, executive vice president of market development for Princeton Digital Group and Jeremy Yew, chief operating officer at BDx Data Centres joining our panel this week to give insights from inside the industry.

Also driving the discussion will be Andrew Green, senior director of integrated digital solutions with the project and development services team at JLL, and Ean Mac Pherson, a Baker McKenzie partner who serves as co-head of the firm’s projects group as well as leading its renewable and clean energy group.

Our panel will be discussing how operators are standardising operations and deploying new technologies in existing centres to reduce resource use, while also designing new facilities to achieve greater efficiency.

With many investors and operators also working within broader infrastructure investment strategies, the panelists will also explore how coupling data centre development with renewable energy projects can help to create a greener industry.

North Asia and Office on the Way

Following Tuesday’s session on sustainability, Mingtiandi’s data centre forum will continue on 23 September with a final panel on data centre networks in North Asia.

That discussion of opportunities in Greater China, Korea and Japan will feature BDx vice president and CEO for Greater China Bill Gao, Thomas Liu, a partner with Actis who has led the UK fund manager’s data centre investments in Greater China and Korea, and Jabez Tan, director of research with data centre analysis firm Structure Research.

With the data centre forum concluded, MTD TV will be back in October with the Office Strategies Forum 2021, which will feature speakers from Allianz Insurance, Hines, JLL, Baker McKenzie and more.

Then in November, Asia’s leading online video channel for real estate information will feature the Mingtiandi Proptech Forum 2021 with details on speakers and topics for that event to be released in the coming weeks.