The IT sector is responsible for a few percent of the annual worldwide energy consumption. Large data centres, on which crucial commercial processes of companies run, are partially responsible for this. "The quantity of services, storage and capacity is increasingly becoming tougher" explains Stijn de Kruijf, project manager of Building Services division’s data centres. “If we fail to focus on energy efficiency, energy consumption in data centres will double in the coming ten years.”

Royal Haskoning is an official ‘endorser’
“In view of Royal Haskoning's vision and the track record it has already built up in the field of state-of-the-art energy efficient data centre developments, the European Commission was rapidly convinced of the added value that Royal Haskoning will bring to the programme”, according to Stijn. “Royal Haskoning was thus one of the first consultancy agencies in the Netherlands to become an official ‘endorser’ of the Code of Conduct”. “We are happy to commit ourselves to the EU objective of twenty percent less energy consumption in data centres", says Stijn. “This means that we support the European vision and also actively implement the principles of the code for clients.”
 


Thanks to our comprehensive knowledge in the field of data centres, but also to the clever combination of knowledge and expertise in building installations, industrial installations, water, architecture and constructions, we remain at the forefront of data centre sustainability.”

For example, in one of the projects underway at the moment, we are designing a data centre in which the energy flows (hot and cold air, electricity) are coupled with the adjoining greenhouse.

Code: more than 100 energy-saving solutions
Part of the code is a list of more than 100 solutions with which data centre owners can make considerable savings in their energy consumption. By implementing these so-called ‘best practices’ and regularly checking the system based upon checklists and tables, companies with data centres can see their contribution to the objective of the European Commission. This also makes benchmarking with other data centres possible. “We thus do not restrict our advice to the realisation of data centres, but are also involved in operational improvements and benchmarking. We can help our clients to achieve considerable savings on their energy bill.”