Data centers now account for nearly 4% of global electricity consumption, with U.S. facilities consuming 17 billion gallons of water annually for cooling alone. This Short Course was created to help Sustainability professionals accomplish strategic environmental optimization of data center infrastructure. By completing this course, you'll be able to identify high-impact efficiency opportunities through metrics analysis, evaluate cooling architectures that balance carbon reduction with operational resilience, and develop actionable sustainability roadmaps you can present to leadership tomorrow.

By the end of this course, you will be able to: Analyze facility PUE, CUE, and WUE data to isolate high-impact efficiency opportunities within an existing or proposed data center Evaluate cooling and power architecture options to recommend solutions that reduce carbon and water footprints while safeguarding uptime requirements Create a comprehensive sustainability action plan incorporating lifecycle thinking, embodied carbon analysis, and verification protocols aligned to a reporting framework This course is unique because it combines advanced efficiency metrics (PUE, CUE, WUE) with lifecycle carbon analysis and ISO 14064 verification protocols, addressing the full spectrum from operational optimization to ESG reporting compliance. To be successful in this project, you should have a background in facility engineering, sustainability program management, or energy systems at CB3 senior-level expertise.