Greentech Lead America: Internap Network Services, a provider of high-performance hosting services, announced that its Los Angeles data center has been awarded LEED Gold certification by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).
LEED is one of the primary rating systems for the design, construction and operation of energy-efficient buildings. A Gold certification is given for buildings that are designed and constructed with sustainable concepts and practices that substantially reduce the building’s impact on the environment as compared to other, similar facilities.
“The data center industry has a real opportunity to build sustainability by reducing energy-consumption and increasing efficiency,” said Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO and founding chair of the U.S. Green Building Council. “Internap has been at the forefront of this initiative, pursuing certification for a range of new facilities. We congratulate Internap for its leadership and for achieving LEED Gold certification at its Los Angeles data center.”
Internap’s Los Angeles facility has also achieved the Green Building Initiative’s Green Globe certification shortly after it opened in September 2012.
Featuring high-density, “upgrade in place” power that scales up to 18kW per rack the data center also incorporates advanced disaster preparedness and resiliency, including fully redundant systems and seismic reinforcement to a 1.5 importance factor, the highest level of structural reinforcement against potential building damage.
Internap offers a range of IT Infrastructure services in its Los Angeles data center – including colocation, hosting and cloud, as well as its route-optimized, global Content Delivery Network (CDN) and Performance IP connectivity service. In addition to LEED and Green Globe certifications, Internap is tracking energy performance at its Los Angeles data center over a 12-month period to qualify for ENERGY STAR certification.
Internap established a 47 percent reduction in energy use, per Energy Star Target Finder, for the entire facility. The mechanical and electrical systems allowed the project to earn the maximum number of possible points for Optimized Energy Performance in the USGBC LEED Rating System. Among the features contributing to this level of performance are: high-efficiency lighting, automated lighting controls, air-side economizer cooling controls and high-efficiency equipment.
Internap also chose to supplement the office area’s electrical load by purchasing 100 percent of its electricity from renewable sources. This purchase of more than 330,000 kWh of renewal energy credits is helping to avoid 361,585 pounds of carbon dioxide.
In water conservation area, Internap reduced the use of potable water by over 41 percent with the use of high-efficiency lavatories.
To renovate the building, Internap reused more than 99 percent of the exterior structural components, avoiding diversion of its construction waste to landfills. Additionally, almost all the materials came from recycled content from pre- and post-consumer materials.
Further Internap utilized a green cleaning program and green pest control policy that aims to reduce VOCs (volatile organic compounds), air contaminants and other harmful gases, promoting a healthier environment for building occupants.
The facility includes environmentally conscious transportation options, including carpool parking stalls to encourage commuters to rideshare and geographic proximity to public transportation.