Question 1

How can a gas-powered data centre align with net zero?

Accepted Answer

Through three design decisions rather than offsets. Generation is specified hydrogen-ready or fuel-flexible from day one, so the asset transitions to zero-carbon fuel without being replaced. Roughly 90–97% of the heat is recovered and exported, displacing gas boilers in neighbouring buildings. And storage plus dispatchable load lets the campus support a renewable-heavy grid rather than forcing more firm capacity to be built for it.

Question 2

Does exported heat actually reduce emissions?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and it is the largest single lever. Heat delivered into a district energy network displaces whatever that network would otherwise burn — usually natural gas boilers. Because the heat is a by-product of computation that happens regardless, the displaced boiler fuel is a genuine reduction rather than a reallocation, and it is metered, so the reduction is measurable rather than estimated.

Question 3

What is the difference between net zero and carbon neutral for a data centre?

Accepted Answer

Carbon neutral generally means emissions are balanced by purchased offsets. Net zero means emissions are reduced at source as far as technically possible, with only genuine residuals addressed by removals. The distinction matters for data centres because offset-based claims are increasingly discounted by regulators and offtakers, while measurable reductions like metered heat export are not.

Question 4

How does an energy-first campus support grid decarbonization?

Accepted Answer

By being flexible rather than flat. A campus with storage and dispatchable compute can shed load within seconds at system peak and absorb surplus renewable generation when it is abundant — the balancing behaviour a grid needs more of as variable wind and solar grow. A conventional data centre, which draws constant power regardless of grid conditions, forces the system to build firm capacity on its behalf.

Question 5

Does GRECO's model meet BC's clean energy expectations?

Accepted Answer

It is designed around them. British Columbia's competitive allocation process weighs environmental impact, community benefit, First Nations partnership, and Canadian data sovereignty and jobs. Heat export addresses the first two directly by displacing fossil heating in local buildings, and the campuses are Canadian-sited and Canadian-operated with local construction and operations employment.

Net zero, by architecture