Federally mandated sustainability reporting has arrived. From the EU to the US, more and more public companies are gearing up to report Greenhouse Gas (GHG) metrics in order to demonstrate compliance with Scopes 1, 2 and 3 from the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. This is a major step forward for sustainability in the corporate world, but is it enough to only look at GHG consumption and emissions?

Current methods for reporting GHG emissions focus heavily on emissions produced, leaving no room for reporting on something potentially even more important: accounting for efforts that eliminate GHG from business practices. Scopes 1, 2 and 3 provide a clear framework for assessing GHG consumption and emissions, but what about GHG savings? What if we put equal focus on never consuming or emitting carbon in the first place? Measuring de-carbonization is crucial, but we also need a way to measure, recognize and reward non-carbonization.

This is particularly important for the data center industry where there is so much potential for greater sustainability beyond the metrics of Scope 1, 2 and 3. Current reporting methods do not tell the whole story of emissions avoidance and mitigation and sustainability. What we need is a way to look at that bigger picture of sustainability in the data center industry. What we need is a Scope 4.

In this keynote presentation, Chris Crosby, CEO of Compass Datacenters, will share a blueprint for the future of sustainability in the data center industry by outlining his bold vision for Scope 4. He will also share innovative best practices that the data center industry can implement across the life cycle of data center development and operations to focus not only on de-carbonization but on the non-carbonization principles of Scope 4. Please join us at Data Center World/Data Center Build this May in Austin to see Mr. Crosby discuss the future of sustainability in our industry.