Infomaniak: The Data Center of the Future – which already exists!

To accelerate the transition to sustainable data centres, we partnered with Infomaniak to create a blueprint for industry-wide change. Using Infomaniak’s D4 data centre, one of the world’s most energy-efficient and sustainable facilities, as a foundation, we developed a website: d4project.org, which provides policy recommendations, comprehensive explanations of D4’s functioning, and real-time data illustrating its viability and effectiveness. Additionally, we produced a comprehensive report for policymakers, addressing the challenges posed by traditional data centres, demonstrating how sustainable facilities like D4 can resolve these issues with data-backed insights, and offering actionable policy recommendations to promote the development of green data centres. By delivering these resources, the D4 Project seeks to inspire and accelerate the shift towards a more sustainable and ethical cloud.

Infomaniak – The D4 Project – Paving the Way for a Sustainable and Ethical Cloud

Data centres emitted 126 million tonnes of CO₂-equivalent (CO₂eq) globally in 2020, three times more than Switzerland’s yearly greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions. These emissions must halve by 2030 to get on track with the net-zero emissions (NZE) scenario. However, the energy consumption of these facilities, already at 1-1.3% of global final electricity demand in 2022, is expected to double by 2026, as the rapid expansion of data centres is critical for driving the ongoing digital transformation.

This project, developed in collaboration with Infomaniak, focuses around the D4 data centre. By eliminating traditional air and water conditioning, using exclusively renewable energy, minimizing energy use, recycling all of the heat generated as a byproduct by its electrical components to heat up 6000 Minergie-A households year-round in Geneva, extending the lifespan of its servers up to 15 years, all while having no impact on the landscape, Infomaniak’s new data centre D4 stands as one of the most energy efficient and sustainable data centres in the world.

If all data centres in the European Union (EU) and Switzerland operated at D4’s level of sustainability, the impact would be transformative:

• EU-wide benefits: a reduction of 14.2–19.9 TWh in electricity consumption, equivalent to the annual usage of 3.9-5.5 million households, and a prevention of 2.52–29.9 million tonnes of CO₂eq emissions (0.08–0.95% of total EU emissions).
• Swiss-wide benefits: a reduction of 0.34 TWh in electricity, equivalent to the annual usage of 85,000 households, and a prevention of 117,600–966,000 tonnes of CO₂eq emissions (0.28–2.32% of total Swiss emissions).

This project delivers actionable insights and tools to drive industry-wide transformation through its website, d4project.org, which features:

• Technical Guide: a comprehensive documentation of D4’s operations, providing the technical foundation to replicate its sustainable practices.
• Proof of Concept: the real-time operational data showcasing the feasibility and effectiveness of D4’s practices.
• Policy Insights: recommendations to address regulatory gaps and promote sustainable data centre design.

By identifying policy shortcomings, offering actionable policy solutions, and providing a replicable framework for building sustainable data centres based on D4, the effectiveness of which is demonstrated through real-time data, this project paves the way for a sustainable and ethical cloud.

If you’re interested by this project, you can also read the article in Le Temps : Avec son nouveau centre de données, Infomaniak veut inspirer toute l’industrie (en français)

Students: Guillaume Chapalain, Mariam Nassar, Maxime Sperandio, Antoine Trabia

Company Supervisors: Boris Siegenthaler, Thomas Jacobsen

Academic Supervisor: Gino Baudry

Transformative Projects’ lead: Samuel Wicki