The Expansion of Data Centres: Implications for Suburbs and Sustainability

This session considers the rapid growth of data centre infrastructure and its implications for energy demand, water use, urban development, and environmental performance. It will examine how Australia can balance digital infrastructure expansion with sustainability objectives.

Learning Outcomes
Following this presentation, you should be able to:

· Outline the role of data centres and the reasons for their current proliferation
· Quantify the water and energy requirements of data centres
· Identify the environmental impacts of data centres
· Identify ways to minimise these environmental impacts

This presentation will deliver outcomes related to the following Competency/s from the National Standard of Competency for Architects 2021:

PERFORMANCE CRITERIA FOR PRACTICE MANAGEMENT AND PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT
PC 10 – Demonstrate understanding of the whole life carbon implications of procurement methods, materials, components and construction systems.

PERFORMANCE CRITERIA FOR PROJECT INITIATION AND CONCEPTUAL DESIGN
PC 31 – Be able to identify, analyse and integrate information relevant to environmental sustainability – such as energy and water consumption, resources depletion, waste, embodied carbon and carbon emissions – over the lifecycle of a project.