University Data Centres: Policy and business case for reducing greenhouse gas emissions

The study examines three scenarios for greening data centres at Dalhousie University, the University of Ottawa, and the University of Alberta. It finds that relocating to remote renewable sites (Scenario 1) or urban low-emission grids (Scenario 2) is economically unviable due to high capital costs. Only on-site waste heat recovery (Scenario 3) showed a positive net present value for one institution. The report suggests a 'green community cloud' managed by CANARIE as a more viable alternative to individual university efforts.

• Relocating data centres to remote, zero-carbon facilities (Scenario 1) is financially unattractive, with negative net present values (NPVs) for all three universities: $(8,535,093) for Ottawa, $(6,968,567) for Dalhousie, and $(8,448,132) for Alberta.
• Relocating data centres to urban settings in provinces with low-emission grids and waste heat utilization (Scenario 2) also resulted in negative NPVs, ranging from $(2,682,716) for Dalhousie to $(3,616,477) for Alberta.
• Modifying existing data centres to capture and utilize waste heat (Scenario 3) was the most economically attractive option, producing a positive NPV of $189,579 for the University of Alberta, though results remained negative for Ottawa and Dalhousie.
• Revenue from the sale of carbon credits is generally insufficient to offset the high capital and operating costs of relocating university data centres to remote renewable locations.
• The report proposes a 'green community cloud'—a shared data centre infrastructure operated by CANARIE in a low-emission province—as a more economically beneficial alternative that leverages economies of scale and virtualization.
• A proposed community cloud for the three studied universities in an urban location like Montréal would cost approximately $21,000,000 to construct and set up, with estimated annual operating costs of $2,900,000.
• The study identifies significant barriers to remote relocation, including concerns over data security, the management of remote sites, and the fact that many university ICT assets are fragmented across various departments.

APA

Lévesque, J.-F., Caners, C., MacLean, D., & Vetter, T. (2010). University Data Centres: Policy and business case for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/university_data_centres.pdf

Chicago

Lévesque, Jean-François, Christopher Caners, Don MacLean, and Tony Vetter. University Data Centres: Policy and business case for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2010. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/university_data_centres.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Lévesque |first1=Jean-François |last2=Caners |first2=Christopher |last3=MacLean |first3=Don |last4=Vetter |first4=Tony |title=University Data Centres: Policy and business case for reducing greenhouse gas emissions |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=September 2010 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/university_data_centres.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{lvesque2010university, author = {Lévesque, Jean-François and Caners, Christopher and MacLean, Don and Vetter, Tony}, title = {{University Data Centres: Policy and business case for reducing greenhouse gas emissions}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2010}, month = sep, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/university_data_centres.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }