Building the future: How datacenters are innovating with sustainability in mind

In 2022, Microsoft purchased a defunct radiator factory sitting on 40 acres of land in Newport, Wales, as the site for a datacenter. Framed with steel beams, the old factory posed a challenge: could the new building be constructed, at least in part, by repurposing those steel beams?

John O'Sullivan was hired to be the project manager for the construction of the Newport site, and he embraced the task. O'Sullivan explains that sometimes he's seen sustainability projects that didn't have a lot of substance. "But for me, I could actually see that this was tangible," he said. "I could touch this, I could see it, I could see we could make a difference here."

Today, the structure is partially complete, and 10% of the steel holding it up comes from the original building - saving about 520 tons of carbon dioxide. The company also found sources of recycled steel, meaning the building used 74% recycled steel overall, with a carbon savings of 4,400 tons.

Beyond steel, the datacenter is also prioritizing landscaping and biodiversity, O'Sullivan says. Trees, scrub habitat and native grasses are being planted to create wildlife corridors between habitats on either side of the property, one of which is a nature reserve that had fallen into disuse; some people had been using it to dump trash.

Councillor Dimitri Batrouni is the leader of Newport City Council; he says that Microsoft helped restore the nature reserve and has been responsive to community concerns about noise, landscaping and environmental impact.

Once an industrial hub with a steel plant that employed about 10,000 people, Newport has shifted its focus to developing its tech economy, with several datacenters as well as semiconductor and microchip operations, Batrouni says. "Out of those embers have emerged the industries of the new world based on data and microchips," he says. He's pushing for more training programs because "it's important to show local people that these jobs are for them as well."