Expect the next generation of data centres to be built out of cross-laminated timber, with Microsoft leading the way in constructing the world’s first two data centres out of wood. This massive undertaking has seen engineers “all hands on deck” building the new centres in a leafy suburb of Northern Virginia – with Microsoft now eying further sites across the United States and worldwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new centres, designed by Gensler\u2014responsible for hundreds of cross-laminated timber buildings worldwide\u2014<\/a>come after Wood Central revealed that developers are turning to mass timber to green up data centres \u2014 now more than 20 times larger than just a few years ago.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Jim Hanna, Sustainability lead for Microsoft’s Data Centre engineering team, the decision to use cross-laminated timber rather than steel-and-concrete is part of a company-wide push to become net-zero neutral by 2030, ahead of a 2050 goal of removing all emissions emitted since 1975.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n