Australia's data centre future will be built on concrete — so make it more sustainable

Australia is moving quickly to position itself as a serious player in the global AI economy. Data centres are being announced at pace. According to a report by Data Centres Australia, 90 are currently sitting in the country’s data centre capacity pipeline, with its operational capacity projected to more than double by 2030. As a result, energy debates are intensifying, along with community and environmental impacts.

But before a single server is switched on, every data centre must first be built, and the way we build them will shape whether Australia’s AI future is genuinely sustainable or simply energy-intensive with a greenwash alibi.

Concrete is the critical link here and it’s not a marginal input, not by a long shot. It is foundational. Hyperscale data centres can exceed 100,000 square metres in footprint, and are engineered more like infrastructure than commercial buildings, with oversized foundations, dense reinforcement, and structural systems designed to carry extreme loads. Australia already has more than 250 data centres, with at least 175 more projected by 2030. Each of those facilities represents thousands of tonnes of concrete locked in before a single watt is consumed.

We are among a group of construction innovators working hard to build the infrastructure of a low-carbon, AI-enabled future using materials that embed significantly less carbon upfront. Cement alone is responsible for about 8% of global carbon emissions, and a large share of emissions produced by the construction industry, with embodied carbon already contributing around 10% of Australia’s total emissions and rising.

The construction sector has already captured many of the easy gains through incremental improvements. But incremental reduction is no longer enough to materially shift outcomes at scale, especially in the face of the kind of massive infrastructure growth seen in the data centre space. Data centres are not experimental builds; they’re capital-intensive, risk-sensitive assets. Engineers will not specify uncertainty, builders will not adopt complexity, and developers will not accept cost or program-risk, so it’s critical that new materials must slip into the supply chain seamlessly.

If Australia wants its data centre expansion to align with its climate ambitions, policy must move beyond targets and reporting and focus on enabling adoption of new and better materials that exist today.

First, procurement signals matter. If embodied carbon becomes a measurable factor in public and regulated procurement, the market will respond quickly. So why not signal more sustainable, market-ready materials, as well as those made in Australia, and preferably regional Australia. These materials and the locally based manufacturing are already happening: now is the time to fast-track it.

Second, compliance pathways must be clear. Materials that fit within existing standards scale, while those that require exceptions do not. There’s a big difference between something promising that has never left the lab and a material or technology that’s already proven in the world. All too often the oxygen in the room is taken by exciting, but untested, academic ‘breakthroughs’ when tomorrow’s solutions are ready to go now. Australia needs a strong and innovative research backbone, but it also needs to take leadership by promoting the innovation advantages we already have.

Third, policy must recognise that this is not just an environmental issue. Cement is also a source of cost volatility and supply risk, so reducing dependence on it can improve resilience just as much as it does emissions.

It’s important to note that none of these steps require the government to pick winners. The industry just needs the right conditions where better materials are supported, promoted and allowed to compete fairly. The key to winning the sustainability game is to understand that, in construction, the commercial interest must also win, otherwise sustainability will become either a hand brake or exclusion from the process.

We need to get this right. The bricks and mortar of tomorrow’s digital infrastructure are already here, they’re cheaper and more sustainable. But now the government, supported by industry, must ensure that these materials are seen and adopted at speed and scale.

Image credit: iStock.com/adventtr. Image used for illustrative purposes only.