Open Compute Project Foundation (OCP), the non-profit organization bringing hyperscale innovations to the data centre industry, announced a new collaboration to test development and deployment of low-embodied carbon concrete or “green concrete.” OCP is facilitating a collaborative effort among leading technology innovators Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google, Meta and Microsoft to drive the adoption of low-embodied carbon concrete in data centre construction.
This collective endeavour, which aligns with the objectives in a previously issued industry call to action, is conducting research through Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc. (WJE) to test the application of low-embodied carbon concrete for data centre floors, targeting a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to greater than 50 per cent per cubic yard.
“By aligning the OCP community’s ability to impact the data centre building material supply chain, this demonstration project will support the creation of sustainable and scalable data centre buildings. Low-embodied carbon concrete represents a significant advancement in environmentally responsible building practices. By reducing the carbon footprint associated with concrete production, we can make a tangible impact in mitigating the data centre industry’s environmental impact. This demonstration will provide valuable insights into the performance and viability of low-embodied carbon concrete, paving the way for its widespread adoption throughout the industry,” said George Tchaparian, CEO for the OCP.
While numerous emerging technologies exist to achieve production of low carbon concrete, adoption has not yet scaled. This proactive and collaborative demonstration project is an important step towards de-risking these new materials that will help de-carbonize concrete. The data and “hands-on” experience provided by a demonstration project supports informed decision-making for those wanting to specify these materials in the future.
During this first-of-a-kind demonstration project, the teams completed a series of slab-on-ground placements with four different concrete mixtures with decreasing global warming potential – with the lowest carbon mixture achieving a greater than 50 per cent reduction in carbon impact as compared to today’s typical concrete. The mixture formulas use supplementary cementitious materials, and an alternative cement derived from raw materials and manufacturing processes that are commercially available today but have yet to be used broadly to this degree given perceived and technical implementation risks.
To measure and observe performance of the concrete in practice, the implementation team developed a comprehensive test plan, including extensive laboratory and field testing performed by industry experts and construction practitioners. The results of these tests will be used to better understand areas of risk, possible mitigation strategies and ways to further optimize the mixtures to deliver concrete meeting data centre structural performance requirements. These findings will be coalesced into a final whitepaper and made available to the public via OCP to inform other efforts to adopt new concrete technologies.
The demonstration event was held on Aug. 8, 2024, at the WJE facility in Northbrook, Ill., and in attendance were senior engineering representatives from AWS, Google, Meta, Microsoft, senior staff from OCP, as well as representatives from the White House Council on Environmental Quality, White House Office of Science & Technology Policy, Rocky Mountain Institute, Natural Resources Defense Council, Urban Land Institute, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, as well as representatives from local and state transportation and tourism agencies, and members of the academic community.
The actions posited by the open letter and now this demonstration project are intended to create aggregated demand for low carbon concrete, which in turn will create a market force to drive innovation. Through this open-source approach, our organizations and others can gain confidence in new concrete technologies.