What happens when you put three sustainability leaders in one room and ask them to call BS on industry practices? You get the most honest conversation about data center sustainability we've had yet.
Karen Cooper (DLR Group), Jenna Middaugh (Green Building Initiative), and Patricia Leyva (Equinix) didn't hold back. From fear-based pricing to parallel study failures, this episode tackles why sustainability initiatives keep getting blamed for project problems—and what to do about it.
Key Insights From This Episode:
• Sustainability should be code-required, not optional — No one argues about fire safety compliance because lives depend on it. Planetary resources deserve the same treatment.
• The "green premium" is often a fear premium — Unfamiliar methods get risk contingencies baked into bids. In markets where sustainable construction is normal, it's competitively priced.
• We're tracking the wrong data — Most projects blame sustainability for delays without running parallel estimates of what traditional methods would have cost under identical conditions.
• Culture beats checklists — Sustainable practices succeed when teams embrace efficiency optimization, not when they're forced to check environmental boxes.
• Small steps create big momentum — Perfect sustainability isn't the goal. Continuous improvement builds institutional knowledge and confidence across projects.
• Community pressure is making sustainability essential — Local governments are asking tough questions about water usage and energy consumption before approving new developments.
• The economics argument wins — When positioned as operational efficiency and resource optimization rather than environmental activism, sustainability finds broader support.
This conversation cuts through the corporate speak to address real challenges facing data center professionals who want to build better but need practical strategies that actually work.
Connect With Our Guests:
Karen Cooper - Architect, DLR Group
https://www.linkedin.com/in/krcoopdesigns/
Jenna Middaugh - COO, Green Building Initiative
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenna-middaugh-8a060137/
GBI's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/green-building-initiative/
Patricia Leyva - Sustainability Expert, Equinix
https://www.linkedin.com/in/paleyva
Apply to be a Guest or Sponsor and follow along:
https://beyondthemegawatt.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/beyond-the-megawatt-podcast
Connect with Mara:
https://www.marajadeconsulting.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/datacenterchic/
Connect with Val:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/valerie-crafton-mba-0362b816/