Call for Greener Design Standards for UK Data Centres

DATA CENTRES are multiplying rapidly across the UK, powering our digital future and ambitions in AI. But without stronger sustainability standards, experts warn this growth could come at a serious cost to the environment.

Eco Green Group, the UK specialist in sustainable green building solutions, is calling for developers and policymakers to ensure that the rapid expansion of data centres does not come at the expense of the environment or Britain’s green belt by embedding solutions like BioSolar roofs, blue roofs and living walls from the very beginning.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner recently faced legal challenges after no environmental impact assessment was made for a proposed data centre in Buckinghamshire. The ‘hyperscale’ data centre forms part of Labour’s wider ambition to establish the UK as a global AI leader but Eco Green Group warns that, without sustainable design standards, the UK risks trading away both green space and resources for energy-hungry infrastructure.

Building Sustainability into Data Centres

With more than 70 new data centres now planned across London and the Home Counties, total demand on energy and water supplies is set to jump significantly.

Eco Green Group believes this expansion can seamlessly integrate green infrastructure from the planning phase up. With BioSolar roofs generating renewable power, blue roofs to recycle rainwater, and living walls and wildflowers to mitigate heat and improve biodiversity, new facilities can significantly offset their environmental impact and reduce running costs.

A Call for Greener Design

Keith Hills, Founder of Eco Green Group, commented: “AI may be the future, but we cannot afford to undermine our environmental resilience in the process.

“By integrating technologies like blue roofs, bio-solar power and living walls into new data centres, we can reduce running costs and protect the environment at the same time.

“The economic case and the sustainability case have been made; we’d urge the government to act on them.”

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