Highly efficient UPS solutions support data center sustainability
Every AI deployment increases demand for power, space, and infrastructure. At the same time, operators face mounting pressure to cut emissions and show measurable progress on sustainability. This poses a challenge for data centers not only to grow but to do so responsibly.
The drive toward sustainability isn’t optional. Customers increasingly demand proof that operators are working toward sustainability. Governments worldwide are enacting regulatory mandates to reduce carbon emissions and mitigate the effects of climate change.
Meanwhile, the drive for AI has shifted sustainability conversations. In the past, efficiency was often the primary benchmark. Today, organizations are taking a broader view, considering not only how infrastructure performs but also how it is designed, maintained, and ultimately repurposed.
Challenge: Growth with minimal environmental impact
As power demands continue to grow, the most sustainable solutions will use materials more responsibly, operate more efficiently, remain in service longer, and support circular-economy principles at end of life. This shift reflects a new sustainability imperative, delivering more digital capacity while minimizing environmental impact throughout the entire lifecycle.
Amid pressure to expand capacity while reducing carbon emissions, the question for data centers is: Can the infrastructure achieve both goals without compromise? With capacity expected to grow rapidly in the coming years, there’s no easy answer. According to commercial real estate services firm JLL, nearly 100 GW of data center capacity will be added globally by 2030, doubling global capacity.
Achieving this level of expansion while advancing sustainability requires commitment, vision, and innovation. For data center operators, this means carefully selecting infrastructure that minimizes environmental impact while delivering the required capacity. Sustainability discussions often focus on cooling, renewable energy, and facility design, but power infrastructure is emerging as another important lever. The UPS can play a fundamental role, giving operators options to boost efficiency and circularity by:
- Minimizing the use of raw materials and embodied carbon (carbon emitted during extraction, production, transportation, and installation)
- Maximizing efficiency without sacrificing resilience
- Optimizing product and battery lifespans to reduce waste and advance circular economy goals
- Supporting ESG commitments while remaining compliant with global regulations
The UPS as catalyst for sustainability
Schneider Electric’s 3-phase Galaxy VXL solution was designed to address current data center challenges. The solution reimagines the UPS not just as a necessary data center component but as a catalyst for sustainability. Galaxy VXL is an ultra-compact, high-density modular UPS that weighs less, takes up less space, consumes less electricity, and uses fewer raw materials than its predecessor, Galaxy VX. It is also designed to last longer, with a lifespan of up to 15 years when paired with longer-lasting lithium-ion battery options.
Compared with Galaxy VX, Galaxy VXL delivers approximately 38% lower lifecycle CO₂ emissions and about 80% lower embodied carbon, while reducing material use by more than two tons per unit and shrinking the physical footprint by 70%. These improvements demonstrate that next-generation UPS design can simultaneously enhance sustainability and operational efficiency.
Galaxy VXL addresses both operational emissions (Scope 2) through industry-leading efficiency and embodied emissions (Scope 3) through substantial reductions in material use, footprint, and manufacturing impact.
Predictive services, available through Schneider Electric’s EcoCareTM offering, help extend the product’s lifespan. EcoCare delivers predictive maintenance and modernization options while reducing site visits through remote monitoring.
Commitment to sustainability
As AI accelerates infrastructure growth, the industry’s challenge is no longer simply delivering more power, but doing so more sustainably. Future solutions will increasingly be designed to use fewer materials, last longer, and be reused. This reduces material consumption, improves efficiency, extends asset life, and enables greater circularity. The greatest sustainability gains will result from a combination of many incremental improvements applied across the entire infrastructure lifecycle.
For data centers, solutions such as Galaxy VXL ensure infrastructure is not only reliable but also aligned with ESG strategies. As AI adoption accelerates and sustainability expectations rise, the industry’s next challenge is to ensure every layer of infrastructure contributes to environmental progress. The future of sustainable data centers will be defined by a series of better design decisions across the entire power ecosystem, not by a single technology. Galaxy VXL exemplifies how UPS technology is evolving to support that future.
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