Microsoft is testing new methods to reduce the steel and concrete it uses for its datacentres. In Northern Virginia, they’re building two facilities that incorporate cross-laminated timber into their design.
This wood-based material is lightweight, allowing Microsoft to lower the carbon emissions typically associated with traditional datacentre construction. The company claims to be the first major cloud provider to experiment with this material, which is already common in low-carbon building projects in Europe.
Microsoft estimates that this hybrid construction method, combining mass timber with steel and concrete, could cut the carbon footprint of the new datacentres by 35% compared to standard steel construction and by 65% compared to typical precast concrete approaches. The sustainably sourced cross-laminated timber will replace some of the heavy concrete usually used in floors and ceilings, resulting in a lighter structure that requires less steel, further reducing the carbon impact.
However, using cross-laminated timber isn’t without its challenges. It’s still more expensive, and fewer American construction firms have experience with it on large projects. Costs can rise by 5% to 10% compared to traditional materials, depending on local market conditions. Yet, for bigger projects like datacentres, it can actually be more affordable in the long run, thanks to shorter construction times, reduced need for skilled labor, and economies of scale.
This initiative aligns with Microsoft’s goal to become carbon-negative by 2030, which means they want to remove more carbon from the atmosphere than they emit. However, progress has slowed. Their May 2024 sustainability report revealed that greenhouse gas emissions for 2023 were nearly 30% higher than their 2020 baseline.
This isn’t Microsoft’s first venture into sustainable datacentre construction. Back in 2016, they explored underwater server farms and wrapped up that project in 2020, finding it to be a reliable and energy-efficient alternative to traditional facilities. Still, in June 2024, Microsoft stated that they won’t pursue underwater datacentres further but will apply the insights gained to other projects.