Learn more about how we’re progressing our sustainability commitments through the Sustainable by design blog series, starting withSustainable by Design: Advancing AI Sustainability.
As we work to advance the sustainability of our business, we are also advancing the sustainability of the data center infrastructure needed to deliver cloud and AI innovations. At Microsoft, we are working to decarbonize data centers by focusing on how we design, build, and operate. To support this work, we are also investing to help develop markets for low-carbon building materials.
As a sector, construction materials such as steel and concrete are among the largest contributors to the embodied carbon of new construction, together producing around 13.5% of global carbon emissions.1 Embodied carbon is a measure of the carbon emitted during the manufacture, installation, maintenance and disposal of a product or material.
Innovations in low-carbon steel and concrete are emerging around the world, but these markets are still nascent and require significant investment to bring the necessary supply online. Thanks to our billion dollarsClimate Innovation Fund and the collaboration of pioneering teams in data center engineering and procurement, we are investing to accelerate these markets.
Innovating for energy efficiency
Learn how we’re advancing the power and energy efficiency of AI
New building materials and new methods of creating those materials show promise in areas traditionally described as “hard to reduce,” areas that we believe need to be reduced. For example, we are innovating mass timber data centers, investing to accelerate market availability of near-zero carbon steel, and expanding options for low-carbon concrete in construction.
Innovating with the construction of solid wood data centers to reduce embodied carbon
In Virginia, we are building our first data centers made from ultra-strong and ultra-light wood with the aim of reducing the embodied carbon of buildings by 35% compared to conventional steel construction and 65% compared to typical precast concrete.
Although this is a new approach to data center construction, it is a material we have used before. In 2021, when we chose cross-laminated timber (CLT) for a new building on our Silicon Valley Campusthis approach has brought many environmental benefits. With green design elements ranging from water reuse and clean energy generation to new public roads and restoration of native ecology, the structure has been recognized for sustainable design excellence by the American Institute of Architects.
The CLT market is well established in Europe and growing rapidly in the United States, driven by demand in the residential segment and the adaptability of CLT to new designs. However, our innovative work to apply this material to building a hyperscale data center required everyone to work differently, from our engineers to our procurement teams to the suppliers involved in construction.
Because CLT is prefabricated off-site, it brings additional benefits, such as faster and safer on-site installation than traditional corrugated steel. Typically constructed of spruce, pine or fir, CLT exhibits remarkable structural integrity and resilience even at high temperatures, developing char and providing insulation in scenarios where steel is likely to fracture. But few data center construction specialists have experience with this material, reducing the availability of qualified contractors, and the materials are very expensive in some regions.
Throughout this project, our teams rose to the challenge by sharing best practices across disciplines, developing new sourcing strategies, ensuring skills pathways, and working collaboratively to validate new material combinations. Expanding building material options for data center construction opens new pathways toward achieving climate goals and helps expand the market for sustainable building materials, including markets for regionally sourced materials and contractors working with these materials.
Acceleration of near-zero carbon steel market availability
Last year, Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund became an investor in Swedish company Stegra (formerly H2 Green Steel), which is building the world’s first large-scale green steel mill in northern Sweden, making up to 95% reduction in carbon emissions compared to traditional steel production. .2 Another promising investment within our Climate Innovation Fund is Boston Metal, which uses renewable electricity and a unique process that generates oxygen instead of carbon dioxide when making steel.
Additionally, Microsoft is a founding member of RMI’s Sustainable Steel Buyers Platform, a first-of-its-kind buyers group that accelerates the decarbonization of steel through collaborative purchasing and market actions. Our engineering and procurement teams work to incorporate low-emission steel and recycled steel into new construction.
Expanding options for low-carbon concrete for construction
The majority of concrete-related emissions come from cement production. A key ingredient in cement is limestone, which is typically heated with clay to around 2,650 degrees Fahrenheit in a coal or gas kiln where it undergoes a chemical reaction called calcination that releases carbon dioxide as a byproduct . In Washington, our pilot program uses alternatives to cement like biogenic limestone (grown on-site by algae instead of being quarried) and fly ash and slag, testing blends that can reduce embodied carbon in concrete by more than 50% compared to traditional mixtures.
Although the transition to low-carbon concrete production is not as capital intensive as steel manufacturing, the supply chain is fragmented and manufacturing processes can be complex, causing delays and slowing down production. adoption of new techniques. For this reason, we are looking to expand construction options throughout the low-carbon concrete value chain.
One of the Climate Innovation Fund’s first investments is CarbonCure, a company deploying low-carbon concrete technologies that inject captured carbon dioxide into concrete, where the CO2 immediately mineralizes and is integrated into permanent in the form of nanometer-sized rocks in the physical product. This not only acts as a carbon sink, but also strengthens the material, helping to reduce the amount of carbon-intensive cement needed. Another investment is Prometheus Materials, a company producing carbon-free bioconcrete through a unique process combining natural microalgae with other components.
Explore the Sustainable by design series
With these investments, we aim to facilitate the commercialization of materials innovations that can have a significant impact on reducing carbon emissions for our own buildings and for built environments around the world.
Learn more about our work to advance AI sustainability with the Sustainable by design blog series:
1 Nature Research, Cement and steel: nine steps towards net zero emissions.
2 Stegra, green platforms: green hydrogen, green iron and green steel.