Green Datacenter has announced plans to build a second data center campus in Switzerland.

The Swiss data center company says the new Zurich Metro Campus will house three large-scale, high-performance data centers and a business park.

The 500 million Swiss francs ($561.5 million) project will be built in Dielsdorf, approximately 15km (9.3mi) north of Zurich, and will cover more than 46,000 sq m (495,000 sq ft). Construction will begin in the first quarter of 2021, with the first data center scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2022. Green says its first anchor customers are already on board.

In addition to the new data centers, the campus site will also comprise three office buildings, commercial areas and green zones. Usable commercial and office space will total around 11,000 sq m (118,000 sq ft). Green currently operates five data centers in and around Zurich, totaling more than 14,000 sq m (150,000 sq ft), with three more planned for its Zurich West campus in Lupfig.

Zurich Metro Campus data centers to heat local area

Green says the Metro Campus will be important for its commitment to creating sustainable data centers. Through the use of air flow simulations, cooling systems, and waste heat recovery, the company says that energy consumption can be kept to a minimum whether the data center is used at partial or full capacity and will include connection to a district heating/cooling system that can be used by every building in the municipality.

Other data center firms have been looking at using excess heat for more sustainable purposes. Dutch firm Switch Datacenter recently announced it would be supplying waste heat from its facility outside Amsterdam to warm local homes and businesses at a discounted price.

Last year the EU Commission warned that data centers and telecoms are responsible for a significant environmental footprint, and “can and should become climate neutral by 2030.”