Data centers

To reduce ADP’s overall greenhouse gas emissions, we continue to assess and improve the energy efficiency of our data centers. We look for ways to conserve energy by implementing passive design features, reconfiguring office design and investing in efficient hardware and cooling systems.

We continue to rationalize our data center network as we offload some ADP-hosted workloads. We have decommissioned 24 data center facilities since 2015 and plan to rationalize another 4 through 2022, contributing to a reduction in carbon footprint.

ADP’s average data center Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) increased slightly from 1.65 to 1.69 between 2020 and 2021. However, in 2021 we were able to reduce the energy consumed by our data centers by 8 percent from the same time last year through various IT and hardware upgrades.

Efficiency upgrades

Our data center in Elk Grove Village, IL recently received significant upgrades to its cooling system. Acquired in 1996, the facility was operating to capacity, however the cooling infrastructure was struggling to meet demands. Utilizing a 3-cell rooftop cooling tower as part of the new system, we adopted mechanical cooling which provides continuous, nonstop cooling whenever necessary. This upgrade both improved the data center’s overall resiliency by mitigating risk from potential equipment failure and greatly increased its energy efficiency. This new cooling system often runs well below its capacity, offering increased mechanical efficiency. This increased efficiency reduces the energy we consume and results in cost savings.