Equinix, a global data center service provider, has been awarded the LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System™ Gold Certification. This certification is awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) for Equinix’s high building standards in their SY3 facility located in Mascot, Sydney.
LEED was developed by USGBC in 2000 and provides building owners and operators with a framework for identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions. It takes into account factors such as energy savings, water efficiency and CO2 emissions reduction.
Tony Simonsen, Managing Director, Equinix Australia, quoted, “This award acts as a testament to the ongoing commitment from Equinix to build to the highest standards and strengthens its position as a global leader in the data center industry. Our aim is to continue to raise these standards, ensuring we are as efficient and green as possible while keeping our customers’ energy consumption and costs down. The SY3 building was originally designed by famed architect Harry Seidler and used as a government paper store. It’s an interesting evolution that this building has moved from storing huge amounts of paper in archive boxes to data now stored in racks of servers.”
Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO & founding chair, U.S. Green Building Council, stated, “With each new LEED-certified building, we get one step closer to USGBC’s vision of a sustainable built environment within a generation. As the newest member of the LEED family of green buildings, SY3 is an important addition to the growing strength of the green building movement.”
Specific achievements highlighted as part of the LEED Certification include:
- 100 percent reduction of potable water for sewage conveyance through the capture and reuse of rainwater .
- 78 percent of on-site generated construction waste diverted from landfill.
- Overall energy cost savings of 22.24 percent as this figure calculated using the ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2007,Appendix G methodology
- Usage of up to 98 percent of the building’s existing structural elements – the LEED Gold Certification requires a minimum of 55 percent of the elements to be reused.
At the time the building was completed, Equinix also announced that its facilities in Sydney, comprising SY1, SY2 and SY3, had successfully passed the external audit for ISO 27001, the highest global standard for information security.
About Equinix
Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX) connects businesses with partners and customers around the world through a global platform of high performance data centers, containing dynamic ecosystems and the broadest choice of networks. Platform Equinix connects more than 4,000 enterprises, cloud, digital content and financial companies including more than 900 network service providers to help them grow their businesses, improve application performance and protect their vital digital assets. Equinix operates in 38 strategic markets across the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific and continually invests in expanding its platform to power customer growth.
About the U.S. Green Building Council
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is committed to a prosperous and sustainable future through cost-efficient and energy-saving green buildings. USGBC works toward its mission of market transformation through its LEED green building program, robust educational offerings, a nationwide network of chapters and affiliates, the annual Greenbuild International Conference & Expo, and advocacy in support of public policy that encourages and enables green buildings and communities. For more information, visit usgbc.org
