Published 29 September 2025

Telia’s data centre has received the prestigious BREEAM certificate

A data centre in Lithuania, designed for the telecommunications and IT company Telia, has become the first in the Baltic countries and the second in Central Europe to obtain the sustainable development BREEAM certification. This achievement sets a new sustainability standard in the region’s technology sector.

Sweco Lithuania was responsible for carrying out the certification process, while both Sweco Lithuania and Sweco Poland prepared specialist analyses. Sweco Poland additionally supported the project by acting as the BREEAM assessor.

“The data centre sector is growing very dynamically, and the environmental impact of these buildings is increasingly noticeable, especially in terms of energy consumption for operational needs. The BREEAM assessment system developed for the data centre sector addresses these challenges by evaluating energy efficiency, environmental impact, climate adaptation, user comfort, biodiversity support, and more,” says Dominik Włodarczyk, the BREEAM assessor responsible for the certification process at Sweco Poland.

Telia’s data centre will be the first of its kind in the Baltic states

The prestigious BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) certificate is an international assessment confirming that a building is environmentally friendly and meets the highest sustainability standards from the planning stage through to construction.

During the certification of the Telia Data Centre, the greatest attention was given to three areas: energy, water, and the use of building materials. The project also addressed important issues such as promoting biodiversity, creating a thoughtful system for managing general and electronic waste, and finding solutions enabling the building to adapt to climate change.

“For many of our clients, sustainability is an important part of their own operations and is closely linked to safety and reliability requirements. Therefore, this certificate proves that by choosing us, they choose a partner who helps them achieve these goals. Data security and responsible resource management also ensure greater service reliability,” says Vytautas Bučinskas, Director of Business Security, Resilience, and Sustainability at Telia.

Data centres have unique requirements

Sweco, in cooperation with the BREEAM certification body (BRE), helped the project meet the specific requirements for data‑centre buildings.
“Data centres form the foundation of society’s digital transformation, and therefore have long faced challenges related to managing the environmental impact of these critical infrastructure facilities. Projects of this type are technologically complex. That is why we are pleased that we were able to bring together the project teams and the client and design the data centre in a way that not only meets business expectations but is also built with the least possible negative impact on the environment,” says Liudas Zalunskis, CEO of Sweco Lithuania.

“BREEAM certification gives investors confidence that data‑centre facilities are not only well‑prepared in terms of energy efficiency but also consider environmental issues, climate change, employee well‑being and the local community. All of this is fundamental, for example, when seeking sustainable financing for such investments,” adds Dominik Włodarczyk, BREEAM assessor responsible for the certification process at Sweco Polska.