KBC wants to continue offering its customers high-quality services and solutions in the future, which is why it applied in early February for an integrated environmental permit for two new, state-of-the-art data centres. One will be located in the car park of KBC Campus Mechelen and the other in the Liersesteenweg industrial park in Heist-op-den-Berg. The bank's existing two data centres in Belgium are due for replacement within a few years.
Data centres play a key role in providing financial services to customers. They ensure the provision of cutting-edge digital services, securely store and transfer data, rapidly perform complex calculations and much more besides. As a result, data centres must comply with strict regulations laid down by the National Bank of Belgium and the European Central Bank.
The contemporary design of the centres has been developed by Arcadis Belgium NV alongside BAUT architects.
KBC plans to start using the new data centres from mid-2027. By the end of 2028, all equipment will be fully migrated and the two existing data centres will be decommissioned. KBC also wants the new data centres to be fully prepared for future developments in technology and IT.
- using energy as efficiently as possible
- cooling the technical installations with rainwater collected from the building (instead of mains water)
- reusing residual heat to warm surrounding buildings (like the company's own office building on KBC Campus Mechelen)
- installing a significant number of photovoltaic solar panels at each data centre
- using building materials with a reduced carbon footprint (recycled steel, concrete with lower embodied carbon)
- designing the buildings with an adaptable internal layout so that the space can be put to alternative uses in the distant future
- pursuing a landscaping concept with minimal paving and special attention paid to biodiversity (the amount of tarmac and concrete at the current car park at the Mechelen site will be reduced and local water storage increased)
- providing ample cycling and charging infrastructure
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KBC Group NV published this content on 28 March 2024 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 28 March 2024 08:31:08 UTC.