THE BOOM OF DATA CENTRES IN IRELAND
In the last decade, Ireland has experienced a boom in data centre construction with the data centre construction investment of over €7 billion between 2010 and 2020. With 70 operational data centres, 8 under construction, and another 26 with planning permission, Ireland has become a data centre hub in Europe with south-west Dublin having the largest concentration of data centres in Ireland.
As more and more data is being generated, stored, and utilised by millions of users, both privately and commercially, with a growing demand for instant access to information across multiple devices, data centres became key structures of modern society. Data centres have one operational KPI – they need to run continuously. Regardless of what is happening outside – rain, snow, freezing temperatures, heatwaves, droughts, storms – data centres cannot stop. They have to keep running as the whole of society relies on the data they process and store. Protecting data centres from the elements outside by ensuring the highest-quality, durable, robust, and reliable waterproofing solution is used is therefore of utmost importance.
WATERPROOFING DATA CENTRES IN IRELAND WITH SOPREMA
As a global manufacturer and market leader in Ireland of waterproofing and insulation solutions, Soprema for over a decade has been supplying high-quality, long-lasting, watertight, and robust waterproofing solutions, including FM approved systems, for data centres in Ireland and continues to date. Soprema’s waterproofing solutions have been installed on over 30% of completed Irish data centres with several others in design development. At Soprema, we specialise in bitumen, liquid, synthetic, and structural waterproofing solutions.
As an innovative and ever-growing global company, Soprema always look to develop better and more sustainable products and systems, which provide long-lasting, robust, and durable solutions for the construction industry and allow projects to be completed more efficiently. Soprema Mini-Mammouth is one such innovation. The Mini-Mammouth is an automated bonding machine engineered, designed, and patented by Soprema Group, which allows for the installation of bituminous membranes up to 5 times faster than that of the typical manual installation, with excellent bonding rate, lower gas usage, and overall safer installation. Due to the increased efficiency, safety, and sustainability of the work, Soprema’s Mini-Mammouth has been used on many projects.
With over 100 years of experience in waterproofing systems, our skilled technical experts use their knowledge and expertise to provide you with the best waterproofing solution for your project, and provide you with a complete technical service including specification and design, rainwater calculations, U-value/ condensation risk analysis and wind uplift calculations, on-site and technical support, advice on management and maintenance, core sampling and thermal imaging surveys, an in-house design team, and list of well-trained Soprema approved contractors, ensuring you get the highest-quality products installed to the highest standard, all under one single-point warranty.
DATA CENTRES AND SUSTAINABILITY
Over the last few years data centres came under scrutiny because of the energy and water usage they require. At the moment, data centres in Ireland use 11% of the total energy generated, with this percentage due to increase to 27% by 2028, as more data centres are built, putting pressure on the data centre owners. This becomes even more relevant with the increasing gas and electricity prices.
At the same time, the data centre industry is keen to power the data centres using renewable energy with some companies committed to using 100% renewable energy sources and net-zero emissions, or even “negative emissions”. It is predicted that in the coming years, Ireland will see a huge investment from data centre owners in renewable energy sources, especially wind energy. Wind farms play a crucial role in Ireland reaching its target of generating 80% of electricity from renewable sources by 2030. In 2020, 36.1% of all electricity generated in Ireland came from wind energy, showing that even though we have a long way to go, we are certainly stepping in the right direction. As part of the increased awareness and demand for sustainability, Soprema is also able to offer a bespoke green roof build up for your project, and have proposed green roof solutions for multiple data centre projects.
GET IN TOUCH
Our building envelope experts are happy to advise you on the best solutions for your project, including complete building envelope waterproofing, roof gardens build ups (green roof/blue roof), using Mini-Mammouth, and using SOPRASAFE, a complete fall arrest system was specially designed and developed by Soprema to provide all-round permanent roof fall protection and guarantee workers’ safety at all times.
Contact our experts on technical@soprema.ie to find out how our solutions can be incorporated in your project.