The market is increasingly demanding a more sustainable approach to the creation and operation of data centers. The pursuit towards zero carbon and achievement of our own firm’s Global Cities Climate Challenge goals [GC³] goals requires ever increasing effort in reducing carbon footprint and extending the focus to account for embedded carbon. In seeking new ways to decrease carbon impact and improve data center efficiency, progressive designs are incorporating features such as renewable energy and liquid immersive cooling. The architect’s role in specifying and influencing choice of materials and construction methodologies is likely to become more impactful than ever as the embedded carbon is accounted for. The speaker will explore these issues and provide insights of recent design innovation from selected facility designs.