11. atNorth

Company: atNorth

Founder: Eyjólfur Magnús Kristinsson

Website: https://www.atnorth.com/

 

 

About atNorth

 

There is no doubt that increased digitalization can have serious implications for our planet. atNorth believes it is essential that the natural and regional environment is given proper consideration as the data center industry continues to grow and has been ahead of the curve in designing and building sustainable data centers for some years.

As awareness grows of the environmental consequences of data centers, particularly with the huge increase in AI use, atNorth continues to work towards its vision, “more compute for a better world”, where data centers are pivotal to self-sustaining, thriving economies.

Already utilizing state of the art cooling technology enabled by its cool Nordic locations, atNorth’s data centers have a Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of just 1.2 compared to a global average of 1.6. This essentially enables clients to decarbonize their IT workloads.

To further lower the carbon footprint of its operations, atNorth has entered into a number of heat reuse partnerships. Collaborations with Wa3rm, a leader in the development of circular and bio-based operations for waste streams will enable the recycling of excess heat from the data center cooling process at atNorth’s DEN02 site in Denmark for use in large scale greenhouses for vegetable production. The site will also be equipped to provide heating and hot water for local communities via the district heating supplier.

A similar collaboration with AgTech startup Hringvarmi at atNorth’s ICE03 data center in Iceland will recycle excess heat to grow microgreens. This will save significant carbon dioxide compared to importing from abroad and contributes to the country’s food security and circular economy.

Waste heat from atNorth’s SWE01 site in Sweden is recycled to provide heating and hot water for local apartments.

atNorth has developed an innovative reference data center design that allows for its sites to be built in a modular fashion to scale in a fast but responsible manner. The business also utilizes the most sustainable materials when possible, such as the laminated wood product Glulam as an alternative to steel beams. As part of this data center blueprint, the business plans to support power infrastructure by dynamic load management and fast frequency reserve options to help stabilize the power supply in partnership with local energy providers.

atNorth also works with the local communities in which it operates to help sustain local economies long term. For example, the business is committed to hiring locally – over 90% of the workforce used for the development of atNorth’s ICE03 site in Iceland were local to the area.

To support local education and assist in the training of local people for data center related roles, atNorth donated a large amount of mechatronics equipment to the Vocational College of Akureyri in Iceland. The business also supports local charities in the vicinity of its sites.

atNorth’s continued innovation and commitment to environmental sustainability, energy efficiency, and community integration as it works to create data center ecosystems that sit at the very heart of society, makes them deserving of recognition in TechRound’s Sustainability 60.