Authored by:
Ashley Katz
Published on:
28 Mar 2012
Feature image:
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Posts with the leed tag
Hungry for Data: LEED Targets Data Centers
Authored by:
Corey Enck
Article:
Quick: How did you get to our blog? Did you click on a link via Twitter, or see the article pop up in your RSS reader? However you arrived here, you probably used around 180 KB of data to load this webpage.
Though somewhat intangible, and certainly not of upmost concern to most of us and our rapid-fire browsing, data requires huge amounts of energy to process. Data centers power our appetite for data at all hours of the day. They are the physical embodiments of our everyday data usage – using Google or Yahoo! to search the most recent March Madness upset, posting photos of a recent vacation to Facebook, loading an app on the new iPad 3 – and like every other structure, they can (and should) be built green.
For that reason, we’ve adapted LEED for New Construction and LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance to the particular needs of data centers to ensure that new construction and facility retrofits can successfully pursue and apply LEED.
What makes data centers such a unique project type? Data centers have very few occupants, and they are huge energy users: a data center can use as much energy as a small town (really). Whereas a typical building is designed to meet heating and cooling needs for occupant comfort, a data center must provide massive cooling power for its servers. Water use is also a key target area for data centers, if the facility utilizes water for cooling. These specific building needs are built in to the data center adaption for LEED.
Recently, there’s been a surge of LEED-certified data centers: Among them, Facebook, Yahoo!, Internap and QTS. Facebook’s first energy efficient, LEED Gold data center in Prineville, Ore. uses 70 percent less water for cooling purposes than an average data center. Apple’s LEED Platinum data center in Maiden, NC, utilizes outside air cooling so that facility chillers can be turned off 75 percent of the time. All of these projects are leading the way in how we think about this project sector.
By bringing data centers into the suite of LEED rating systems, we’re removing barriers so that even more data facilities can participate in LEED and build sustainably. Read more about the adaptations for data centers and other market tracks, and be sure to weigh in on these changes to LEED in public comment, now open until Mar. 27.
Slideshow images:
Quick: How did you get to our blog? Did you click on a link via Twitter, or see the article pop up in your RSS reader? However you arrived here, you probably used around 180 KB of data to load this webpage.
May I Borrow Your Jumper Cables?
Authored by:
Lauren Riggs
Slideshow images:
“May I borrow some jumper cables?” The brick building asked the building next door. The brick building’s energy use was out of control; It needed to kick-start its efficiency. The building next door answered with Energy Jumpstart, the new pilot prerequisite in USGBC’s Pilot Credit Library. USGBC hopes that this pilot can act as a set of jumper cables to stir up a segment of the buildings market that has the potential to make huge energy efficiency gains.
It Doesn’t stop at the LEED Certification Plaque: Why Ongoing Building Performance Tracking Matters
It has become widely accepted across the commercial real estate world that LEED certification has the potential to add value by presenting a number of benefits including higher rental yields, lower vacancy rates, reduced operating costs and improved em…
Out with the old…
We’re excited to announce that the USGBC blog has moved to the new USGBC.org website.
Head there now to check out our recent posts, including:
3 Things You Need to Know About Energy Data & LEED
The Building Happiness Metric, and
How Do I Choose a…
How Will You Impact LEED 2012? Third Public Comment Period Opens Mar. 1
Are you an architect? A facilities manager? A building owner?
How about a professional working in a big city high-rise? A father with kids in elementary school? An unabashed shopaholic?
read more
Army to Congress: LEED Doesn’t Cost More
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The Army is still going for Gold and Platinum despite recent legislation calling a halt to LEED spending.
The federal government has been one of the biggest support…
At Treasury, Green is Our Favorite Color – But We’ll Take (LEED) Gold!
When you think about a “green” building, you probably don’t picture a centuries-old National Historic Landmark that’s lined with columns and made of thousands of tons of granite.
Well, maybe that’s about to change. I’m pleased to announce that the Treasury Building – which dates back to the 19th century and is located right next door to the White House – received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) at a ceremony today in our historic Grant Room.
Top 10 States for LEED Green Buildings
Today, USGBC released its top 10 list of states with the most LEED-certified building square footage per capita. The District of Columbia leads the nation, with more than 31 square feet of LEED-certified space per person in 2011, and Colorado is the le…
Every Penny Counts: Tracking Building Performance to Save Money and Resources
Videos:
In today’s economy, every penny counts. And as building owners and facility managers know all too well, every penny adds up. When the lights in your 30-story office bu…