Digital Realty Releases 2025 Impact Report With Renewable, Energy and Water Metrics
Digital Realty released its 2025 Impact Report, reporting environmental and sustainability metrics across renewable energy, energy efficiency, water stewardship, sustainable design and construction, and community engagement. The report matters for enterprise IT and data center operations because it lays out quantified results tied to how the company powers and manages its facilities.
The company said its operations included 205 sites matched with 100% renewable and emissions-free energy, and that 75% of sites operated without evaporative cooling. Digital Realty also reported a 93% global renewable energy coverage figure for 2025, which it described as an 18% increase from the prior year.
The Impact Report set out several measures. Digital Realty cited a 1.38 PUE globally, including 1.31 PUE across its EMEA portfolio, and said 53% of its U.S. portfolio by managed IT-capacity was certified under the Energy Star program. For water, it reported a 3% increase in water usage from 2023 to 2025 while portfolio grew by 34% in the same period, a WUE of 0.59 with a 15.7% improvement from the prior year, and 45% total water supplied by non-potable resources, up 3% from the prior year.
Digital Realty also described sustainability efforts tied to energy procurement and construction. It reported 1.7 GW of large-scale renewable energy capacity contracted, that 18% of data centers use low-carbon HVO diesel fuel, and that 10+ waste-heat projects increased heat supplied to district energy programs by 46% since 2023. For sustainable design and construction, the company said six data centers totaling 1.8 million square feet and 196 MW-IT achieved certifications in accordance with sustainable building standards, with a 1.20 average design PUE across those projects. “At Digital Realty, we design advanced data centers to minimize environmental impact, with 205 sites matched with 100% renewable energy and 75% of sites operating without evaporative cooling,” said Andy Power, President and Chief Executive Officer of Digital Realty. “This demonstrates our commitment to building, powering, and operating sustainable data centers trusted by more than 5,500 customers.” The company added that six data centers delivered in 2025 and that it has achieved 17.8 million square feet and 1.5 GW-IT under sustainable building certifications. “As we respond to increasing data center demand to support the growth of AI and the digital economy, we remain focused on delivering sustainable data centers that prioritize the responsible use of energy and water,” said Aaron Binkley, Vice President of Sustainability, Digital Realty.