Embodied Carbon: The Unseen Emissions That Enterprises Can’t Ignore

Across the world, businesses are looking to reduce carbon emissions as part of their sustainability strategies. In today’s tech-driven world, it’s especially important for them to consider how their digital infrastructure impacts these efforts. Almost all digital technology relies on data centers, and data centers—like any physical product we use—have emissions baked into them during the resource extraction and manufacturing processes.

Emissions that are released when materials and components are manufactured are known as “embodied carbon.” Even though many business leaders acknowledge embodied carbon, measuring and addressing it can be challenging. That’s because they often lack reliable emissions data related to the life cycle of different products across different regions, and they usually don’t directly control these emissions either. Let’s learn more about why embodied carbon matters, why it’s so challenging to address, and what we’re doing about it at Equinix.

What is embodied carbon, and why does it matter?

In a data center, embodied carbon represents the greenhouse gas emissions generated during the various activities required to build or update a facility or its capital equipment:

• Harvesting raw materials such as limestone, gypsum and iron
• Manufacturing those materials into finished products like concrete and steel
• Transporting products to the job site
• Operating construction equipment
• Outfitting the site with equipment such as generators and cooling systems
• Disposing of products after the facility is eventually decommissioned

Unfortunately, these embodied emissions are incredibly challenging to measure, meaning many businesses don’t know how big their carbon footprint really is. Embodied carbon makes up a significant portion of a company’s emissions. This means that reducing it could have a big impact. For companies that have set ambitious science-based targets (SBTs) for emissions reductions, addressing embodied carbon is an integral part of meeting those targets.

Major construction projects require a lot of concrete and steel, both of which generate significant emissions during the manufacturing process. Mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) components also contribute a significant portion of a data center’s carbon footprint. Addressing embodied carbon in building materials and components is essential to enabling a sustainable future—not just for data centers, but for all industries across the world. According to data from the 2024 GRESB Real Estate Benchmark, building materials and construction processes (i.e., embodied carbon) generate 15% of all global greenhouse gas emissions.[1] This shows the scope of the challenge, but also the scope of the opportunity we have in reducing embodied carbon.

What makes reducing embodied carbon so difficult?

Most businesses understand the need to reduce emissions, but typically start with direct emissions (i.e. emissions that happen on site or from owned assets, like vehicles) or emissions associated with purchased energy. Solutions for those emissions are often straightforward, and the technology is mature. For example, businesses can replace gas-powered vehicles with electric versions or invest in the development of clean energy projects. Once progress has been made on reducing operational emissions, the next step is to move on to supply chain emissions like embodied carbon to meet long-term decarbonization goals.

Although many business leaders understand the importance of embodied carbon, they’re not always in a position to reduce it. While low-carbon materials may be available in some cases, there are other situations where they’ll be difficult to find or costly. Buyers cannot directly control the availability or market price of these materials, but what they can do is talk to their suppliers and let them know that they’re interested in acquiring low-carbon materials. After all, the best way to increase the supply of any product is to signal demand.

To effectively reduce embodied carbon, decision-making must begin well before construction. Projects need to allow time and space to explore opportunities for carbon reduction from the beginning of design, and these decisions must be carried through to construction. Early collaboration with the general contractor and their suppliers is crucial, as it enables more informed choices that can significantly lower the building’s overall carbon footprint.

Organizations rely on their supply chain to help reduce embodied carbon, and they can strengthen their efforts by actively collaborating with partners and suppliers to explore options and enhance their procurement choices. For instance, companies that acquire space inside colocation data centers may benefit from using colocation providers that are actively engaged with suppliers to reduce embodied carbon.

How we’re addressing embodied carbon at Equinix

Understanding embodied carbon starts with performing a whole building life cycle assessment (WBLCA). As the diagram below shows, a WBLCA covers a facility’s complete life cycle, from the first raw materials gathered all the way through to its eventual decommissioning. It also includes the second useful life of any materials that can be recovered and reused from the facility.

At Equinix, we began performing WBLCAs for our data centers in 2022. This established a quantifiable baseline for our embodied carbon and helped us identify the sources of embodied carbon that we should prioritize decarbonizing, often referred to as “hot spots.”

In 2024, we implemented a pilot program designed to pursue targeted carbon emissions reductions in priority commodities and measure the impact of our efforts. We also now appoint an embodied carbon consultant to work in collaboration with the design team, general contractors and cost consultants in a collective effort to evaluate options for each targeted material from the beginning of design. The team will account for factors such as cost, supply chain availability and delivery timelines—all while ensuring that the project meets performance requirements.

We’re also actively engaging with the general contractors on our projects, encouraging them to collaborate with us on reducing embodied carbon. In 2024, we collaborated with the contractor Laing O’Rourke to reduce embodied carbon in the materials used in our LD14 data center build in London. We were able to reduce embodied carbon by approximately 30% for structural steel, concrete and rebar, compared to country average benchmarks.

Embodied carbon reduction is only one aspect of our holistic approach to data center construction and procurement. We don’t choose particular suppliers just because they offer low-carbon materials, nor do we exclude others just because they don’t. We look for partners willing to collaborate with us as we pursue creative solutions that align with our goals.

By having the right conversations with our suppliers, we believe that we can educate each other about what’s possible and encourage each other to get better. By engaging with suppliers and sharing information about our approach, we aim to create a domino effect that fosters industry-wide collaboration on embodied carbon reduction, driving growth in viable solutions and ultimately contributing to a more sustainable future for the global digital economy.

Avoid, reduce and innovate

At Equinix, our embodied carbon strategy includes three pillars:

• Avoid using new materials whenever possible. One way we’re doing this is by requiring design teams to explore opportunities to repurpose existing structures and reuse existing materials.
• Reduce the embodied carbon in any new materials that we can’t avoid using. This involves evaluating low-carbon alternatives with the help of our suppliers.
• Innovate to explore emerging technologies, materials and even initiatives that extend beyond our value chain in pursuit of a low-carbon future, and encourage our partners to do the same.

Equinix is a global company that operates 270+ data centers across 76 markets, each of which has different sustainability requirements and different suppliers. Although addressing embodied carbon in so many different markets presents unique challenges, this diversity also strengthens our knowledge and experience, enabling us to advance our strategies effectively while scaling over time. By applying this global expertise, we’re helping instill confidence in our customers as they deploy in any of our data centers worldwide.

To learn more about how Equinix is helping customers future-proof their digital infrastructure by addressing their climate commitments, access our interactive sustainability report today.

[1] What is embodied carbon in the real estate sector and why does it matter?, GRESB, December 4, 2024.