Abstract

The accelerating expansion of global digital infrastructure has raised urgent concerns about the energy efficiency and environmental impact of data centers. This study quantitatively evaluates the sustainability of 135 facilities across 137 countries using data from 2021–2022. Two derived indicators, Power per Centre (MW) and White Space per Centre (m²), were developed to normalise architectural and operational performance. Results show substantial regional disparities: Europe achieves the highest average efficiency (0.13 MW and 0.19 m² per centre), while the Americas record lower power density (0.03 MW per centre) due to legacy infrastructures. The strong correlation between gross power and white space (r > 0.99) indicates coupled global growth of spatial and energy provisioning. In contrast, emerging regions such as Africa and the Pacific remain under-represented. The findings highlight that normalised metrics provide clearer insight into design efficiency and energy equity than aggregate totals. The study concludes that sustainable digital infrastructure requires region-specific efficiency benchmarks, transparent reporting standards, modular renewable-ready designs, and developing a Global Digital Infrastructure Sustainability Index (GDISI) to guide policy action.