Forever Green Newsletter December 2023 Edition

Welcome to the December 2023 issue of our sustainability newsletter, Forever Green! 

2023 in Review: 12 Ways Sustainability Shaped Our Year

As 2023 draws to a close, it’s time to reflect on the year’s significant developments and trends in sustainability in the digital infrastructure sector. From data centers powering the cloud to the environmental impact of AI and machine learning, many notable stories and initiatives have pushed the industry to become more sustainable, including ongoing efforts by tech giants like Google and Microsoft to power data centers with clean energy. It has all profoundly impacted how we at T5 approach our continuous efforts to provide our customers with a Forever On and Forever Green environment.

So, in this end-of-year edition of our monthly Forever Green newsletter, we will recap T5’s top sustainability initiatives and wins in 2023 shaped by the digital infrastructure industry. We hope you enjoy this review of the events and announcements that shaped the sustainability conversation this past year!

After you review the 12 Ways Sustainability Shaped Our Year, join us in pondering what will be in store for 2024. Will we see more tech giants power data centers with renewable energy? Can emerging startups help monitor and improve sustainability across complex digital infrastructure systems? What new technologies may gain traction to understand and reduce environmental footprints? We’ll be with you along the way to find out. Here’s to the New Year!

12. What Earth Day Means to Us: Sustainability is a year-round effort, but in April, we celebrate Earth Day, an important day to remind us why we do what we do. And it’s a team effort, as our employees shared what Earth Day meant to them with stories and photos. Check out some of the posts from our team here: 

Brad Grover, Construction Services Director

Christopher Tang, Financial Analyst

Cara Lee West, Preconstruction Coordinator

Anders Hermansen, Logistics Technician

11. Lifting Up The Industry: T5’s involvement in iMasons, an organization that provides industry professionals an independent forum to connect, grow and give back, is vital to our efforts in promoting sustainability in the digital infrastructure industry. In March 2023, we attended the San Francisco iMasons Member Summit Meeting, during which we discussed building community support for our data centers and growing awareness of this industry as an attractive workplace.

10. The Future of Data Centers: During DCD Connect Virginia, Greg Pettine, T5 VP Business Development of Data Center Operations, discussed the future of data centers in Data Center Alley in Northern Virginia, while our VP Global Operations, Steven Holland, participated in a panel discussion on doing more with less regarding data center operations. These critical conversations are part of ongoing discussions around increasing energy costs, community impacts and sustainability efforts across the industry.

9. Honoring the Armed Forces: T5 has long honored our veterans and active service people. Setting up these individuals with a successful career post-service is one of the focuses of iMasons; we were more than happy to be a part of their Armed Forces event at PTC ‘23. Among other industry professionals, we discussed how these individuals’ skills can translate into the data infrastructure industry and meet with potential employers.

T5 at the iMasons Armed Forces event during PTC ‘23 in Honolulu, Hawaii

8. Going Large in London: In October,John Shingler, Steven Holland, and Sydney Ellman were on-site in the United Kingdom at DCD Connect London to formally introduce T5’s facility management services to the broader European market. 

7. Over Three Million Safe Hours Worked: In June, we celebrated National Safety Month by acknowledging the accomplishments of our T5 Facilities Management and Construction services team as they exceeded over three million hours worked without a lost-time accident across our portfolio of data centers and construction sites. Read more about the Top 5 Things to Be T5 Forever Safe to join us in our year-round commitment to workplace safety.

6. Greener Data 2.0: On Earth Day 2023, we celebrated the first anniversary of our participation in the Greener Data book and movement. This multi-authored, visionary book features the voices, stories and perspectives of leading decision-makers in the data center and network infrastructure industry who are passionate about significantly reducing carbon emissions. And we announced that we will also participate as a chapter author for the next Greener Data edition, which will be released on Earth Day 2024!

5. Impactful New Hires: 2023 saw the addition of four key hires that have bolstered T5’s sustainability efforts and turnkey, full lifecycle services to our customers. These hires included Karen Stein as our General Counsel, Steven Holland as our Senior Vice President of Solutions, David Roberts as our Senior Vice President of Construction Services Solutions, and Greg Pettine as our Vice President of Business Development.

4. Acquiring a New Data Center: In September, we acquired a third data center facility (Chicago III) in Northlake, IL., a key submarket for the Chicagoland area. This data center has 36 MW of IT capacity to meet the demand for data center space by hyperscalers and enterprises.

3. Honors From Infrastructure Masons: T5 was honored with the prestigious IM100 Award by Infrastructure Masons for efforts in data center sustainability. The 2023 award recipients included those who have significantly contributed to advancing and transforming the digital infrastructure industry, with recipients that span 15 countries and 68 different companies. 

2. “Forever On” For A Changing Landscape: We marked our expansion into Europe by launching a definitive guide to full lifecycle services management eBook at DCD Connect London, “Forever On: Key Considerations For Ensuring Your Data Center Evolves Alongside Your Business.” This eBook is a comprehensive guide to supporting data center operators alongside the industry’s evolving landscape.

1. Expanding to Europe: We’ve successfully brought our award-winning processes, procedures and training programs to a hyperscale customer in Denmark. Now we’ll offer a Forever On environment to additional countries in the EU market requiring critical facilities management support with secure, continuous uptime for customers and reduced environmental impacts.

In Other Green News

• AI, power generation and automation are among the trends predicted for 2024. How will this impact an already rapidly evolving industry?
• 2024 may see technology as a “key business differentiator” that can help mediate economic turbulence.
• Cloud computing is “forecast to top $1 trillion in 2024” and must remain agile for use cases across numerous industries, which will impact data centers.