Data Center Knowledge examines one of the industry’s less-discussed sustainability challenges: the structural dependence on concrete in mission-critical construction and whether meaningful alternatives exist. DataBank Senior Director of Sustainability Jenny Gerson is among the industry voices featured throughout the piece, offering a candid and technically grounded perspective.
Gerson notes that the shift to liquid cooling for AI workloads is actually intensifying concrete requirements rather than relieving them, as heavier thermal storage systems and welded stainless steel secondary loops demand stronger structural designs. DataBank has deployed low-carbon concrete mixes at facilities in Dallas and New York, and Gerson observes that the cost premium for those mixes has narrowed considerably in recent years, removing a barrier that previously stalled broader adoption.
“Mission-critical construction has essentially zero tolerance for rework, and specifying something unfamiliar on a project where a delay costs millions is a hard case to make.”
— Jenny Gerson, Senior Director of Sustainability, DataBank
On the question of eliminating concrete altogether, Gerson is direct: It is not a realistic goal, and framing it that way sets the industry up to be criticized for missing a target that was never achievable. The realistic path is reduction and decarbonization: using less concrete where possible and lowering the carbon footprint of what remains structurally essential.
Gerson also offers a useful proportionality check: the energy and water story around AI infrastructure is orders of magnitude larger than the embodied carbon story around construction materials, and industry focus should reflect that reality.
Read the full article at Data Center Knowledge.
