atNorth’s blueprint for the future

by Eyjólfur Magnús Kristinsson, CEO at atNorth

As we celebrated Earth Day last month, we are reminded that our future on this planet depends on the actions we take today and those we set in motion for tomorrow.

The theme: OUR POWER, OUR PLANET is astutely aligned to atNorth’s vision where communities, governments, businesses, and citizens come together to take responsibility for a sustainable future for people and planet.

This is why we are thrilled to launch our ‘Building for Good: Reimagining the Data Center’ blog series. This new series will unpack why data center design and development must go beyond ‘net zero’ to prioritize sustainability and regeneration to support the future of digitalization, facilitate community integration, and contribute to positive and restorative practices.

Our Power, Our Planet + Our Future
Climate change, destruction of nature, and increasing social inequalities are examples of immediate and growing threats to the global community. Given the current state of the planetary boundaries and social foundations, we recognize that aligning our operations to global sustainability objectives is the bare minimum.

Staying true to our vision: more compute for a better world, our aim is to build a business that not only mitigates harm but actively restores and enhances the world around us to protect the environment for future generations.

We are developing an entirely new, truly unique blueprint that we believe will redefine the future of the data center: a model that brings sustainability, circularity, and restorative principles and the local communities together.

Our latest project, DEN02, in Jutland, Denmark, is the first bold step in this new direction. By designing the site to minimize environmental impact and maximize positive contribution, DEN02 aims to prioritize resource efficiency, push the boundaries of circular design, and invest in nature restoration.

 Caption: Reimagining the data center of the future

Behind the scenes: building a data center blueprint
The data center industry has reached a tipping point. As AI workloads drive the need for larger, higher density facilities, existing data center infrastructure is being pushed to its limits. With power and land scarcity becoming limiting factors for growth, the data center industry must evolve to meet digital demands, prove sustainability credentials, and demonstrate their benefits to the local communities.

This is why atNorth is developing this Blueprint focusing on:

• Next-level heat reuse to drive the sustainable use of excess heat from the data center to its surrounding community, addressing how partnerships such as DEN02 and Wa3rm can create positive impact.
• Sustainable material usage to reduce environmental impact, alongside a commitment to waste responsibility to reduce the carbon footprint of modern data centers.
• Regenerative design that integrates nature into the build environment, improving sustainability through innovation and transparency to facilitate healthier working spaces and wellbeing, promote circular economy practices, reduce negative environmental impact, and ensure the site sits in harmony with its surroundings.
• Restoring nature and biodiversity by investing in and allocating space for nature restoration at data center sites to support, for example, long-term resurgence of local flora and fauna while also dedicating land to create community areas.
• Reducing water consumption through cooling efficiency – from natural cooling within colder climates to deploying technology such as closed-loop liquid cooling, we can alleviate the strain on water usage and reduce environmental impact.
• Renewable energy integration within the data center must incorporate alternative power sources such as wind, solar, geothermal and hydroelectric. It must also explore on-site renewable utilization and attract renewable energy producers to neighboring land to create a circular approach to future management.
• Efficient energy management that supports the transition to non-fossil, biofuel options for backup generators, and facilitates the capture and storage of energy on-site in the form of battery to reduce the carbon footprint without tapping into the energy grid.
• Grid resilience to drive the transition to a more sustainable, energy efficient infrastructure. Functioning as a grid-friendly asset, data centers like DEN02 can help alleviate pressure and manage load for critical use within the community, stabilizing the grid and reducing emissions.
• Community integration to create employment, foster wellbeing, and enhance the community. The data center of the future must benefit the local region through job creation, local community engagement, support regional economies, and ensure operations have a positive social and environmental impact locally.

Sustainability + Regeneration + a visionary blueprint
We believe the data centers of the future must not only power the digital economy but also restore and sustain the health of our planet. By integrating sites like DEN02 into the local communities, we expect our future data center ecosystems to set a new baseline for large-scale, sustainable and ethical deployments.

We know that building a better future is not something we can do alone. It demands collaboration and knowledge sharing at every level — individuals, businesses, governments, and communities — all working together to drive meaningful, lasting change. By sharing insights like the ‘data center blueprint for the future’, we can work together to drive technological advancement, positively affect the transgressed planetary boundaries, and restore the environment.

Stay tuned — in the next chapter of our series, we’ll take a closer look at how data center design can become a powerful ally for protecting and enhancing nature and biodiversity.