Low-Impact Landscaping Provides Many Benefits

Being a green data center doesn’t often conjure up images of high desert plants and shrubs, but a building’s landscaping does actually play a role in being an environmentally friendly facility. At BendBroadband’s Vault, we’ve implemented a number of eco-friendly and green landscaping initiatives to ensure a natural environment and low impact to the earth. We’re using an innovative new method of landscaping called xeriscaping, which refers to the integration of the area’s natural flora into the design. This is beneficial for a number of reasons, including a quick and easy adaptation of the plants and trees themselves, low maintenance and very little upkeep, low-to-no irrigation need, and friendliness to the local wildlife, among other items.

The Vault facility is using local, indigenous plants, shrubs and trees that are native to Central Oregon and thus not only adapt quickly to the facility’s environs, but also blend in with the natural environment around the facility. Because the plants are indigenous, they grow well and no fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides are used to aid in the growing process. And best of all, the absence of these chemicals helps to ensure that no harm is done to the local wildlife that saunters through the property on occasion.

When building the Vault, we tried to reuse as much of the natural materials on the site as we could. Not only are we using local and indigenous plants, but we’ve also integrated rock from the property that was unearthed during construction for our retaining walls around the Vault.

Xeriscape landscaping isn’t the only way BendBroadband Vault is being environmentally friendly outside its doors, either. Another way in which the facility has implemented low-impact landscaping is through the use of pervious pavement. A special, porous concrete, pervious pavement allows rainwater to soak through the pavement itself and seep back into the ground and the natural water table. By filtering back into the earth in a natural way, there is no storm water runoff, no erosion, no need for retention ponds or other storm water management devices and, best of all, the groundwater and water tables are recharged naturally.

Oh yeah, did I mention that the wildlife likes to saunter through the property? Have a look at this great footage captured by our camera a few evenings ago. It seems like the deer feel right at home in our xeriscaped environment, huh?