Top 10: Sustainability Consultants

As data centre operators pursue aggressive net zero targets, sustainability consultants have become integral to strategic decision-making across design, build and operation. 

These firms provide the blueprint for achieving measurable carbon reductions without compromising performance. 

From rising regulations on embodied carbon to the growing emphasis on circular design, expertise is now key to sustainable progress. 

Data Centre Magazine rounds up the Top 10 sustainability consultants helping hyperscalers, colocation providers and enterprise clients meet the challenge of greener digital infrastructure.

10. Turner & Townsend

CEO: Vincent Clancy
Founded: 1946
​​​​​​​Location: Leeds, UK

Turner & Townsend delivers sustainability insight across every project phase, integrating carbon benchmarking and lifecycle assessment into major data centre programmes. 

Its advisory teams help operators embed ESG into asset performance strategies while balancing resilience with cost efficiency. 

The firm’s multidisciplinary approach ensures sustainability goals translate into measurable results, aligning infrastructure growth with Net Zero Carbon ambitions. Turner & Townsend’s global presence also gives it the scale to support hyperscalers pursuing multi-region sustainability compliance.

9. Buro Happold

CEO: Oliver Plunkett
Founded: 1976
​​​​​​​Location: Bath, UK

Buro Happold blends engineering rigour with environmental consultancy, guiding operators to design low-impact, high-efficiency data centres. 

Its projects advance the use of renewable power integration, water stewardship and circular material strategies. 

The firm’s data-driven modelling tools optimise energy distribution, cooling efficiency and whole-life carbon assessments. 

Buro Happold’s strength lies in translating sustainability targets into tangible engineering frameworks that maintain operational reliability while cutting emissions across growing digital estates.

8. Black & Veatch

CEO: Mario Azar
Founded: 1915
​​​​​​​Location: Kansas City, US

Black & Veatch brings deep experience in sustainable infrastructure, with expertise spanning renewable energy, water systems and digital transformation. 

Its data centre practice champions modular design and advanced power management to improve efficiency and resilience. 

The consultancy’s ability to integrate utilities, cooling and electrical systems within sustainability metrics provides clients with clear ROI on decarbonisation investments. 

Black & Veatch also supports large-scale transitions toward low-carbon grids, making it a trusted partner for data centre clients worldwide.

7. WSP

CEO: Alexandre L’Heureux
Founded: 1969
​​​​​​​Location: Montreal, Canada

WSP’s sustainability consulting spans strategy, compliance and engineering design for the built environment. 

Its global data centre team supports clients seeking net-zero-ready builds with advanced modelling on energy, water and materials use. 

The firm’s integration of climate risk assessment ensures assets are futureproofed against environmental volatility. 

WSP’s holistic view of ESG performance makes it a key advisor for operators prioritising long-term sustainability alongside business continuity.

6. SLR Consulting

CEO: Bradley Andrews
Founded: 1994
Location: London, UK

SLR Consulting (SLR) combines environmental consultancy with technical engineering expertise to drive sustainable outcomes in the data centre sector. 

From energy assessments to biodiversity management, the firm helps developers mitigate risk and enhance project sustainability from the planning stage onwards. 

SLR’s specialists also advise on complex permitting and compliance issues, ensuring carbon objectives align with regulatory frameworks. 

Its collaborative, solutions-focused approach supports clients committed to transparent sustainability reporting and measurable environmental improvement.

5. Ramboll

CEO: Christian Jensby (arriving May 2026)
Founded: 1945
​​​​​​​Location: Copenhagen, Denmark

Ramboll is recognised for embedding sustainability into the entire value chain of digital infrastructure projects. 

Its consultants help operators enhance performance through climate-responsive design, renewable integration and energy optimisation. 

The firm’s human-centric approach prioritises occupant wellbeing, community impact and environmental stewardship in tandem with operational excellence. 

Ramboll’s leadership in lifecycle analysis and energy strategy makes it a trusted advisor for clients seeking to align sustainability with innovation.

4. Salute

CEO: Erich Sanchack
Founded: 2013
Location: Wisconsin, US

Salute brings operational sustainability to the heart of data centre management. Its team focuses on improving energy efficiency, optimising maintenance and extending the life of existing assets. 

Beyond strategy, Salute delivers sustainable workforce development through veteran training programmes and purposeful hiring. This approach not only supports ESG targets but ensures operational excellence through a highly skilled and motivated workforce. 

The firm’s growing global footprint underscores its expanding influence in sustainable operations.

3. Arup

CEO: Jerome Frost
Founded: 1946
​​​​​​​Location: London, UK

Arup is a global leader in sustainable design and engineering, offering end-to-end consultancy for data centres seeking to achieve low-carbon operations. 

Its experts pioneer innovations in liquid cooling, renewable integration and circular design thinking. 

Arup’s early-stage modelling helps clients understand and mitigate whole-life carbon impacts before construction begins. 

The firm’s research partnerships and technical leadership make it instrumental in setting new sustainability benchmarks across the data centre industry.

2. Schneider Electric Consulting Services

CEO: Olivier Blum
Founded: 1836
Location: Rueil-Malmaison, France

Schneider Electric’s consulting arm offers deep expertise in energy management and digital efficiency. 

Leveraging its technology ecosystem, the firm helps operators design and operate facilities that meet stringent sustainability and resilience standards. 

Its consultants provide decarbonisation roadmaps, ESG reporting support and data-driven performance optimisation. 

Schneider Electric’s holistic approach connects design and operations through real-time analysis, ensuring clients can track, forecast and improve sustainability metrics across complex global portfolios. 

The firm remains at the forefront of helping the industry transition to carbon-neutral facilities.

1. Uptime Institute

CEO: Martin McCarthy
Founded: 1993
​​​​​​​Location: New York, US

Uptime Institute’s leadership in sustainability consultancy draws on its global authority in data centre standards and performance certification. 

Its Sustainability and Resiliency programmes provide operators with detailed frameworks for tracking energy, water and material usage across assets. 

By aligning operational resilience with carbon reduction, Uptime offers an evidence-based path toward sustainable excellence.

Through initiatives such as the Sustainable Digital Infrastructure Maturity Model, the Institute equips the sector with transparent benchmarks that drive continuous improvement in both efficiency and environmental performance.