As a leader in data center sustainability, QTS has developed a multi-pronged approach to target water inefficiencies within our portfolio of global data centers and support the communities in which we live, work and operate.
QTS is committed to operating sustainable data centers. QTS’s water-free Freedom Design is a leading technology that cools our data centers without consuming water. The QTS Freedom Design is a best-in-class standardized data center model implemented across all our new data centers. The design employs a low-pressure pumped refrigerant system to remove heat without consuming water.
A water-free cooling system saves more than 48 million gallons of water annually per data center —the equivalent of water use from more than 2,200 U.S. homes per year. Because the cooling system does not consume water, QTS Freedom Design data centers deliver a Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE) of 0. WUE is the most relevant metric for measuring water use and conservation in the data center industry.
QTS’s commitment to sourcing carbon-free energy also reinforces our water-reduction strategy, as the wind and solar energy sources we use do not utilize water to produce electricity. We also conduct diligent field testing and reporting to establish best-in-class erosion controls and storm water mitigation techniques.
Our philanthropic partnership with World Vision extends beyond our data centers and underscores our commitment to environmental stewardship. Through this partnership, QTS has subsidized 23 water points, bringing access to clean water to over 65,000 people in communities facing water crises.
As we continue to deliver the critical infrastructure necessary to support the growing demands of the world, we are steadfast in minimizing our impact on the environment and the natural resources of communities.
