Canadian Vault

Same workload, different geography

Canada vs the desert

Three measured dimensions and one that is only beginning to be measured. Canadian Vault figures are design targets; comparator figures are published benchmarks. Sources and caveats on the methodology page.

On-site water per kWh

Canadian Vault (target) 0.2 L/kWh US typical 1.8 L/kWh

Grid carbon intensity

Proposed regions (illustrative) 38 gCO₂/kWh US East reference 420 gCO₂/kWh

Power usage effectiveness

Design target 1.20 Industry average 1.45

Design-target water use, Canadian Vault sites

0.2 L/kWh

US typical 1.5–1.8 L/kWh

Design target An engineering goal for closed-loop cooling at hydro-adjacent sites — not a measurement. No facility has been built.

Design-target PUE

1.20

industry average 1.45

Design target Power Usage Effectiveness — the ratio of total facility energy to IT energy. 1.20 is an aggressive cold-climate goal, not an operating result.

The dimension spreadsheets miss

Desert watershed

Cooling water competes with farms and towns. Disclosures are fought over in court. Utilities and aquifers are already stressed, and local opposition now routinely delays billion-dollar projects.

Hydro-adjacent Canada

Cooling water is a rounding error beside continental rivers; the power is ~99% clean and stably priced; and the communities we would ask first are the ones we publish our intentions to.

Scrutinize the numbers — that’s why they’re labelled.

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