GreenSquare’s SYD1: Building more capacity with less carbon
As demand for AI and digital infrastructure accelerates, the data centre industry faces an important challenge: how to deliver more capacity while improving environmental outcomes.
At GreenSquare, sustainability is not a standalone initiative. It is a core consideration in how we design, build and operate digital infrastructure. Our approach focuses on reducing resource consumption, improving efficiency and delivering long-term environmental performance across the lifecycle of our campuses.
The outcomes achieved at SYD1 Stage 1 demonstrate how sustainability considerations embedded early in the development process can deliver measurable environmental benefits.
To accelerate delivery, GreenSquare adopted an adaptive reuse strategy for Stage 1, retaining and repurposing the existing core-and-shell structure rather than pursuing a full demolition and rebuild. This approach has enabled a 275% increase in IT capacity within the original building footprint while retaining 92% of the existing structural carbon. The result is a significant reduction in embodied carbon compared with a conventional demolition and rebuild approach.
An independent upfront structural carbon assessment of Stage 1 quantified*:
- 92% of the existing structural carbon retained – 5402 tCO2e of embodied emissions preserved through the reuse of existing structure
- 76% lower structural upfront carbon per square metre of gross floor area, compared with the original building
- 93% lower structural upfront carbon per kW of IT capacity
These outcomes demonstrate how adaptive reuse can meaningfully reduce the environmental impact of data centre development, particularly where suitable assets can be repurposed without compromising performance, operational requirements or future scalability.
While the embodied carbon benefits achieved through adaptive reuse are specific to this project, the principles that guided the decision are not. GreenSquare’s Basis of Design incorporates resource efficiency, water stewardship, energy performance and responsible material selection as core requirements for future developments.
As AI and high-performance computing workloads continue to grow, the industry must balance increasing compute density with responsible resource management. At SYD1, reducing embodied carbon was only one part of the equation. The facility has also been designed to minimise water consumption and improve operational efficiency while supporting the performance requirements of high-density compute environments.
Looking ahead, GreenSquare is embedding these principles into the Basis of Design for its Australian campus developments. This includes progressing membership with Water Stewardship Asia Pacific, investing in on-site solar, evaluating lower-carbon materials and trialling emerging technologies that improve resource efficiency and building performance.
The future of high-performance digital infrastructure will be defined not only by the capacity it delivers, but by how efficiently and responsibly that capacity is developed and operated.
*Independent assessment performed by TTW