In 2021, the Digital Infrastructure industry included 7 million data centers worldwide, representing 105GW of power capacity consuming 594TWhs of energy. This equated to 2.4% of global electricity consumption. It is essential to have the industry adopt an open standard to report carbon in data center materials and products, carbon intensity in power consumption, and a maturity model to report participant progress.
In 2022, the iMasons Climate Accord (iCA) was launched to address these concerns and our industry’s responsibility to support impactful climate action. The iCA is now a 250+ member non-profit professional association focused on reducing carbon through Materials, Equipment, and Power. Formed by leaders in the iMasons Advisory Council, the iCA represents some of the world’s most prominent digital infrastructure portfolios, including colocation data center providers, product and service delivery partners, and investment firms.
Fast forward three years, the iCA has launched its Maturity Model, 1st Edition, organized around our three key focus areas: Materials, Equipment, and Power. This publication is the next step in the iCA’s mission to identify, establish, and develop a standard methodology for measuring carbon in digital infrastructure and ensuring transparency. It supports our Members on their varied sustainability journeys and influences buying decisions to drive the larger supply to reduce carbon.
This inaugural iCA Maturity Model is a roadmap for decarbonizing the digital infrastructure industry. It seeks to clarify what the sector requires to achieve sustainable growth while protecting our planet. The focus is on global carbon accounting for each unique data center location over its lifetime, aiming to net zero carbon emissions for our industry.
This standardized framework measures progress in reducing:
- Embodied carbon in materials used to build data centers
- Embodied carbon of equipment deployed in data centers
- The carbon intensity of source power used to operate data centers
What is a Maturity Model and what is its purpose?
A Maturity Model is a framework for comparing a company’s facility maturity against industry best practices. By introducing this Maturity Model, the iMasons Climate Accord codifies established best practices for decarbonization, or emissions reduction, in data center power, equipment, and materials, as set forth by our Governing Body and Working Groups and supported by our case studies.
How does a company utilize it?
This comprehensive, voluntary framework empowers data center service buyers to request comparable and summarized information for informed decision-making. It incentivizes service providers to offer higher performance aligned with customer demand.
Organizations can guide clear and actionable next steps by understanding where their decarbonization program stands, such as sustainable purchasing, capital investments, and/or operational changes.
This is not a certification system or a reporting framework but a roadmap of criteria for organizations to review their internal goals and learn from their peers in the industry how to align for greater decarbonization.
Additional details can be found within the publication.
Update – February 19, 2025: Version 1.1 includes additional guidance on Scope 4 in Appendices A and B, and a revision to carbon offset approaches (these may be included/counted toward an organization’s reduction of embodied carbon).