Green Initiatives
Data center efficiency and practices

Deploying water-side and air-side economizers

Equinix is harnessing the natural cooling power of the ambient environment by deploying water-side and air-side economizers in our HVAC systems. This allows us to cool our data centers naturally by taking advantage of cooler ambient temperatures to reduce our reliance on energy-consuming compressors and chillers.

Installing Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs)

Variable frequency drives (VFDs) are deployed in chillers, pumps and fans in our HVAC systems. A VFD drive automatically reduces a motor’s speed and power draw when there is lower system load.

Deep Lake Water Cooling (DLWC)

Equinix uses an innovative cooling system to transfer energy between cold, deep lake water from Lake Ontario and a closed-loop chilled water supply. This requires less power than the compressors used in standard chilled water systems. Deep lake cooling saves energy and related green house emissions for our TR1 Toronto IBX data center.

Cold Aisle Containment

Equinix deploys cold aisle containment infrastructure to support higher power density installations in our sites. Cold aisle containment uses a physical barrier to reduce the mixing of cold supply air and hot exhaust air in data center aisles. This delivers lower energy consumption and more efficient cooling. Cold aisle containment is an effective energy efficient solution for today’s higher power density infrastructure architectures.

LEED Certification

Our SV2 Silicon Valley and our DC6 Washington, DC IBX data centers are Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified. Equinix is committed to pursuing LEED certification for all of its facilities. All new IBX data centers are evaluated for LEED certification during the design and construction process.

Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE)

Equinix supports, uses and is involved in the creation of industry-standard efficiency metrics, such as PUE, in cooperation with the U.S. EPA, The Green Grid and other similar standards bodies. Equinix uses these efficiency metrics to benchmark our operations and accurately evaluate efficiency gains from infrastructure upgrades. We consistently evaluate the way in which we measure PUE and other metrics to ensure our findings are meaningful and consistent.

Retro-fitting IBXs with Compact Florescent light bulbs and LED lights

Equinix is retro-fitting IBX data centers with compact florescent light bulbs and LED lights that consume up to 75% less energy, last up to 10 times longer and produce more light per watt than incandescent bulbs.

Lighting Systems Operation

Equinix understands that small changes can generate significant energy savings. By installing motion activated light controllers in our more than six million gross square feet (550,000 square meters) of global data center capacity, we reduce the energy consumption and heat load in our sites.

Evaluating New Technologies, New Designs and Energy Options

Equinix is committed to continually evaluating new technologies, alternative energy options and new designs to operate our IBX data centers as efficiently as possible while maintaining the reliability our customers expect. Equinix Operations and Engineering teams conduct regular reviews of our facilities to monitor and improve efficiency. The application of new technology is seen as critical in delivering optimal customer service.

Member of The Green Grid — A global consortium dedicated to advancing energy efficiency in data centers and business computing ecosystems.

Participant in U.S. EPA Energy Star Data Center Rating initiative— A data collection project which served as the foundation for the data center specific rating system - released in June 2010.

Equinix is registered with the UK Government CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme — a mandatory undertaking aimed at improving energy efficiency and cutting emissions in large public and private sector organisations.

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