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Get in TouchEnergy efficient practices have become pervasive in the data center market as providers and customers alike strive to reduce their carbon footprint and meet corporate sustainability goals. Equinix is at the forefront of innovating and driving technologies that increase the efficiency of building, operating and running our data centers.
Equinix was recently awarded the LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System™ Gold Certification for its high building standards by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) for phase one of its SY3 facility located in Mascot, Sydney. Read more and see below for a complete list of LEED Certified IBXs.
Our global International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) Operations and Engineering teams have implemented comprehensive conservation and efficiency programs that include energy and water conservation, solid waste reduction, pollution prevention and recycling.
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.
Equinix is committed to pursuing Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for all of its facilities. All new IBX data centers are evaluated for LEED certification during the design and construction process. Currently, our Global Corporate Headquarters in the Silicon Valley, SY3 Sydney, and HK2-II Hong Kong IBX data centers are LEED Gold certified, while our LA4 Los Angeles, DA2 Dallas, and DC6 Washington, DC IBX data centers are LEED Silver certified. In addition, our SV2 and SV5 Silicon Valley and DC10 Washington, DC IBX data centers are LEED Certified.
ENERGY STAR Certification
Energy efficiency is the fastest, cheapest, and largest untapped solution for saving energy, saving money, and preventing greenhouse gas emissions. ENERGY STAR is a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) program that focuses on improving energy performance in buildings as a method of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This program sets targets for intended energy performance during the design phase of a data center, measures and rates the energy performance of occupied and operating data centers and recognizes those data centers that perform in the top 25 percent as compared to their peers nationwide. ENERGY STAR recognition is an indicator of superior energy performance and Equinix is proud that our LA4 Los Angeles, DC2 Washington DC, SV3 and SV5 Silicon Valley IBX data centers have been awarded ENERGY STAR Certification by the EPA.
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.
Equinix is committed to improving energy efficiency within the data center industry.
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 organizations.
Equinix employees are regular and proactive participants in industry associations such as the U.S. Green Building Council and The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) which focus on issues of efficiency and sustainability.
Equinix is at the forefront of innovating and driving technologies that increase the efficiency of building, operating and running our data centers.
DOWNLOADCustomers of European data centers face growing demands for compliance with environmental standards and for greater energy efficiency. Equinix is helping them navigate the new requirements, and seize the opportunities to improve energy efficiency, refine their green IT credentials, and cut costs.
DOWNLOADEquinix has been recognized around the world for its energy efficiency initiatives.
Equinix has won the prestigious DatacenterDynamics ‘Green’ Data Center award for its AM3 Science Park facility in Amsterdam. The DatacenterDynamics awards recognise innovation, leadership and ‘out of the box’ thinking.
AM3 Science Park Amsterdam, which became fully operational last October, enables its customers to significantly reduce their CO2 footprint. The facility uses hybrid cooling towers and Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES) technology instead of mechanical cooling to use any excess energy to heat the surrounding buildings. AM3 demonstrates that it is possible to build a sustainable data center by making optimal use of smart technology.
Our Global Corporate Headquarters, SY3 Sydney, and HK2-II Hong Kong IBX data centers have achieved LEED Gold, LA4 Los Angeles, DA2 Dallas and DC6 Washington DC IBX data centers have achieved LEED Silver, and the SV2 and SV5 Silicon Valley and DC10 Washington, DC IBX data centers have achieved LEED Certification for improving performance across all of the following metrics: energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reductions and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts on the environment.
2008 Green Award – Equinix gained special distinction by winning the first ever Data Centers Europe Green Award. This award was presented at Data Centers Europe, the annual industry event held in London for business leaders in the data center sector.
Green Business Program Certification – All four of Equinix’s Silicon Valley IBX centers have received Green Business Program Certification from the Bay Area Green Business Program. The program was developed by Bay Area local governments in collaboration with the U.S. EPA, Cal EPA Department of Toxic Substances Control and the business community.
Naturemade Star – All of Equinix’s Swiss IBX’s use 100% green power electricity from energy providers that have been certified with the Naturemade Star label.
Energy Innovator Award – Silicon Valley Power awarded Equinix the Energy Innovator Award for energy efficiency enhancements to the SV2 IBX. Equinix implemented a number of upgrades which included air-side economizers, variable frequency drive （VFD） fans and LED light fixtures. These systems resulted in energy savings of more than 4,000,000 kWh per year.
Equinix （Switzerland） AG voluntarily joins the programme of the Swiss Private Sector Energy Agency and commits itself to the active reduction of Co2 emissions and to the optimization of energy efficiency.