Infomaniak Wins Green Business Award for Its D4 Data Center in Geneva

Infomaniak’s D4 data center in Geneva, which is located entirely underground, harnesses all the heat generated by server operations and feeds it into the city’s district heating network. In winter, this heat can be used to heat up to 6,000 households—without any conventional air conditioning or external water supply. For this concept, Infomaniak was awarded the Green Business Award in the SME/Corporates category on September 3, 2026.

From Energy Consumer to Energy Supplier

Servers continuously generate heat during operation. In conventional data centers, this heat must be dissipated using cooling systems. D4, on the other hand, uses it as an energy source for the surrounding area: The electricity first powers the servers, and the heat generated in the process is then fed into the district heating network.

D4 operates with three closed-loop air and water circuits and therefore does not require an external water supply for cooling. Infomaniak feeds the heat into the district heating network and sells it at cost for 20 years. According to calculations by the Enterprise for Society Center (E4S), when operating at full capacity, D4 can reduce CO₂ equivalents by 3,600 metric tons annually compared to natural gas heating and by 5,500 metric tons compared to wood pellet heating.

«With D4, digital infrastructure becomes part of the local energy supply. The heat is generated as a byproduct of operations anyway—Infomaniak makes it usable for the public. This is a very concrete example of how an environmental challenge can be transformed into economic and social value,» says Cédric Habermacher, director of Green Business Switzerland.

Open Source as a Principle

The complete documentation for the data center is available as open source at d4project.org available. This allows other companies and operators to access the concept and use its technical approaches for additional data centers.

«D4 convincingly addresses a key challenge of digital infrastructure: the heat generated during operation is fully recycled and fed into the public power grid. At the same time, Infomaniak is making the concept freely accessible. This combination of environmental impact, economic benefits, and scalability convinced the jury,» says Doris Leuthard, former Federal Councilor and chair of the jury.

Infomaniak Prevails in the Final

On September 3, 2026, Infomaniak presented the D4 data center to the main jury, chaired by Doris Leuthard. The company prevailed over Belimo Automation, with its data-driven optimization solution RetroFIT+, and Vögeli Marketingproduktion & Druck, with its recyclable printing and packaging solutions. The award was subsequently presented at the Maillot Vert summer festival in Lucerne.

«This award sends a message that, in the face of the environmental crisis and the AI boom, we must boldly break new ground. It confirms that data centers shouldn’t just consume energy—they must serve the greater good. The true value of D4 lies in its replicability, and that’s exactly where this award helps us. We’ve made all our plans public so that others can follow suit, and we thank everyone who believed in this necessary transformation,» says Boris Siegenthaler, founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Infomaniak.

The Green Business Award has been presented annually since 2019 and honors Swiss companies that combine environmental impact with economic success. In the Scale-ups category, AgroSustain, OceanSafe, and Meteomatics are in the finals; the winner will be announced on February 12, 2027, at the Impact Circle event in Gstaad.

Source: Green Business Award