Site portrait

Digital Realty London LON1-3

Greater London, ENG · Digital Realty · operating

Independent observatory

The five pillars behind the grade

Energy 1 of 6 measures C
Water 2 of 4 measures E
Land & biodiversity 2 of 7 measures B
Local impact 1 of 7 measures B
Transparency & governance 0 of 2 measures –

A pillar with no letter rests on too few measures to defend one. We publish the count rather than a letter we could not stand behind.

The points that will decide

Water

Local water stress : high water stress
Water body status : water body in moderate status

To ask for : Which cooling technology, and how much water a year — in a basin already under stress? to claim from the authority — the site is running, only its operating conditions still bite

Land & biodiversity

Overlap / distance to protected areas : no protected natural area on record within 5 km, to our knowledge
Soil status (artificialized / natural / agricultural) : previously developed land

To ask for : What ground footprint, and on which parcels? to claim from the authority — the site is running, only its operating conditions still bite

Energy

Local grid carbon intensity : 123.8 gCO2e/kWh

To ask for : What PUE is announced, and measured how? to claim from the authority — the site is running, only its operating conditions still bite

What this looks like from the street

Noise — continuous, day and night

Cooling runs permanently and standby generators are tested on a schedule. What is regulated is not a distance but how far the noise rises at the neighbour's.

We hold neither a nearest-dwelling distance nor an acoustic study for this site. Both are obtainable: the study is a document in the file.

Standby generators and their fuel

A facility like this keeps standby generators and the tanks that feed them. They are what gets tested, what gets smelled, and what triggers its own permitting. Their number, their fuel and the volume stored are in the file where one exists.

We measure no health effect and we do not claim to. We publish what is in the file, and what is not.

What we have not measured

Grid connection capacity / proximitynot yet collected by us
Grid congestion / connection queuenot yet collected by us
Heat-network connectabilityverified absent from the file we read
Basin withdrawal pressurenot yet collected by us
Ecological corridors (TVB)verified absent from the file we read
Municipality socio-economic profilenot yet collected by us
Absorption capacity (project size vs municipality)verified absent from the file we read
Observed level of oppositionverified absent from the file we read
Elected officials' position (voted facts only)verified absent from the file we read

These gaps are ours, not the developer's: they say where our measurement stops, and they do not penalise the site.

Where the procedure stands

announced
under review
under construction
operating

the local planning authority

Six weeks to bring a challenge to the planning decision before the High Court, running from the day after it is taken — and leave of the court is needed first.

Any environmental information held by a public authority can be requested in writing: the answer is due within twenty working days.

Town and Country Planning Act 1990, s. 288(4A)-(4B) · Environmental Information Regulations 2004, reg. 5(1)-(2)

What to get written into the approval

To ask for : Which cooling technology, and how much water a year — in a basin already under stress? to claim from the authority — the site is running, only its operating conditions still bite
To ask for : What PUE is announced, and measured how? to claim from the authority — the site is running, only its operating conditions still bite
To ask for : Will the waste heat be recovered, by whom, and from which phase? to claim from the authority — the site is running, only its operating conditions still bite
To ask for : What ground footprint, and on which parcels? to claim from the authority — the site is running, only its operating conditions still bite
To ask for : Which avoidance, reduction and offset measures? to claim from the authority — the site is running, only its operating conditions still bite
To ask for : Is the land already designated for development in a supra-municipal plan? to claim from the authority — the site is running, only its operating conditions still bite
To ask for : Does the planning document have to be changed for this project? to claim from the authority — the site is running, only its operating conditions still bite
To ask for : How many permanent jobs after construction, and of what skill level? to claim from the authority — the site is running, only its operating conditions still bite
To ask for : What tax revenue for the municipality, over what period, with what abatements? to claim from the authority — the site is running, only its operating conditions still bite
To ask for : What consultation is planned, on what date, and who answers it? to claim from the authority — the site is running, only its operating conditions still bite
To ask for : Is the full file open to consultation, where, and until when? to claim from the authority — the site is running, only its operating conditions still bite

Commitments that are not in the approval cannot be enforced: what is not written cannot be demanded later.

↔ Technical sheet — the measures one by one, their values and their sources