Summary
Discover how EdgeConneX is leveraging a single dashboard to audit volumetric water benefit projects, transforming water stewardship into a measurable, transparent impact metric.
Leveraging AI has been a game-changer in how we assess and manage water usage across our global operations. Waterplan's platform, particularly their AI-driven risk matrix, has been instrumental in helping us prioritize regions and identify projects with the greatest potential impact. By consolidating data from news articles and local postings into auditable sources and actionable risk metrics, their technology provides us with unparalleled insights into water-related challenges. This innovative approach not only enhances our ability to plan effectively but also strengthens our commitment to sustainable water stewardship.
Vice President Real Estate and Sustainability Team member at EdgeConneX
Before Waterplan
The data center industry-powering everything from Al to cloud computing-is at the heart of the digital economy, and with that growth comes a heightened focus on water stewardship. While energy consumption has long been in the spotlight, water use is now gaining equal attention as a critical factor in building resilient, sustainable digital infrastructure.
Many data centers are located in arid regions given the benefits of efficient cooling in lowhumidity environments and reduced corrosion, making water management a critical consideration. The rise of Al workloads adds new complexity to water planning, intensifying water use per compute unit and making it harder to project long-term demand.
EdgeConneX, a global leader in building and operating purpose-built data centers, is setting a bold example. With 80+ data centers built and in development across five continents and growing demand driven by Al workloads, the company has committed to achieving water neutrality across its global operations. Even with 92% of its portfolio operating on dry or no-water cooling systems, there is still residual potable water used for general occupancy use, including, landscaping, cleaning and maintenance, restrooms, and kitchen needs.
To enable its water stewardship commitment, EdgeConneX partnered with Waterplan. This collaboration integrates scenario-based forecasting, project-level volumetric benefit accounting (VWBs), and centralized portfolio management-transforming water stewardship into a strategic, data-driven capability.
The partnership is ongoing and addresses the following challenges:
Difficulty tracking projects against targets: To support their water neutrality goals and meet reporting requirements, EdgeConneX needed clear, auditable documentation to quantify the Volumetric Water Benefits (VWB) of their replenishment projects.
Complexity of gathering and interpreting high-quality water data: Effectively managing and tracking numerous water stewardship projects and their associated data across multiple sites demanded a consolidated and easily accessible digital platform.
"Leveraging AI has been a game-changer in how we assess and manage water usage across our global operations. Waterplan's platform, particularly their AI-driven risk matrix, has been instrumental in helping us prioritize regions and identify projects with the greatest potential impact. By consolidating data from news articles and local postings into auditable sources and actionable risk metrics, their technology provides us with unparalleled insights into water-related challenges. This innovative approach not only enhances our ability to plan effectively but also strengthens our commitment to sustainable water stewardship." - Andrew Brodeur, Vice President Real Estate and Sustainability Team member at EdgeConneX
Quantifying and Documenting VWBs
Water neutrality doesn't end at reducing withdrawals-it means replacing every gallon used with measurable, local replenishment.
EdgeConneX's first major replenishment initiative was the Central Valley Water Replenishment and Ecosystem Revitalization Project in California. Located at Hidden Valley Ranch, this nature-based solution reconnects floodplains, revitalizes riparian habitat, and improves groundwater recharge across a historically overdrawn basin. Its total volumetric benefit: 2.61 million gallons per year, verified using the VWBA 2.0 methodology under Methods All and A2-recognized by CDP, WRI, and other established frameworks.
Waterplan worked with River Partners to create a detailed factsheet embedded with the project's assumptions, data sources, and modeled benefits. This documentation is stored and visualized inside the Waterplan platform, giving EdgeConneX audit-ready evidence for any ESG inquiry or assurance process. It also serves as a blueprint for evaluating and onboarding future projects-using the same transparent accounting logic across geographies and partners.
"At EdgeConneX, we recognize that effective water stewardship requires more than just historical data-it demands forward-thinking solutions tailored to the unique complexities of each site. Our first initiative, focused on water replenishment and ecosystem revitalization in California's Central Valley, exemplifies our commitment to making a meaningful impact. By partnering with Waterplan, we've developed a custom, site-level forecasting model that integrates critical variables like cooling technology, server density, and staffing data. This innovative approach not only helps us address the challenges of forecasting water demand in a rapidly evolving landscape but also positions us to identify and implement other beneficial projects in regions across the globe as we work toward our ambitious water neutrality goals." - Haley Willis Chittick, Sr. Manager, Environmental Sustainability & Compliance at EdgeConneX.
The Central Valley project fully offsets the residual cooling footprint of EdgeConneX's Silicon Valley campus-one of its most water-intensive locations-and establishes a scalable replenishment playbook. As the company grows, this model ensures that water neutrality remains both measurable and meaningful.
Centralized Project Portfolio Management
As the volume and diversity of replenishment projects expand, so does the need for a centralized, real-time governance system. Waterplan's platform is now being configured to serve as EdgeConneX single source of truth for all their water projects-spanning accounting, compliance, and project information.
The dashboard aggregates key information across the portfolio: VWB impact by project, region, and basin; associated contracts and financial documentation; embedded factsheets and communications assets; and automated alignment to disclosure frameworks. In a recent walkthrough, Waterplan demonstrated how the tool allows teams to filter by project type or ROI, compare impact-per-dollar across options, and surface gaps in target geographies.
This integration is especially critical given the number of teams involved. Sustainability leads can assess basin-level tradeoffs. Communications can export data-backed narratives for customers and investors. All from the same live system-no spreadsheets, no delays, no duplicated effort.
As EdgeConneX moves closer to its 2030 neutrality goal, this portfolio view provides something even more valuable than documentation: confidence. The confidence that every gallon replenished is real, verified, and visible to those to every key stakeholder.
Takeaways
Waterplan·s tailored solutions for water use Al modeling, Volumetric Water Benefit quantification, and centralized project data management are transforming EdgeConneX's approach to water stewardship. This strategic collaboration positions EdgeConneX to achieve its water neutrality goals and demonstrate leadership in sustainable digital infrastructure.
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