The Vault Achieves LEED Gold Status

Last week, we were notified that the BendBroadband Vault has officially achieved LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold status under the LEED 2009 Building Design and Construction (LEED BD+C) rating system. This is a monumental achievement and one that we have been working toward since the initial concept stage of the Vault. This certification puts us in the upper echelon of data centers and makes us only the 5th data center in the world to attain this level.

The LEED Gold certification is issued by the United States Green Building Council and is awarded to those facilities that implement practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions. Currently, data centers are one of the hardest types of building types to certify, making this accomplishment all the more special.

LEED Consultant Jill Sornson Kurtz agrees. “LEED was originally developed for corporate structures, primarily office buildings, so for a data center such as the Vault to undergo the same process and scrutiny – and to pass with flying colors – is no small feat,” she said. “The BendBroadband Vault project has raised the bar in energy efficiency and green building strategies for all data centers of the future.”

According to LEED, the Vault was recognized for its work in the following categories:

• Sustainable sites (using alternative transportation, natural site development, effective stormwater management)
• Water conservation & efficiency (water-efficient landscaping, water-efficient plumbing, water-efficient cooling systems)
• Energy efficiency (optimization of energy performance, onsite renewable energy, green power and renewable energy)
• Materials conservation & waste reduction (using recycled building materials, recycling of construction and demolition waste, using locally sourced materials and certified wood products)
• Healthy indoor environmental quality (zero-or-low VOC (volatile organic compounds) building materials, proper indoor air quality (IAQ) management, green housekeeping policies)
• Integrative project planning (use of cross-discipline design and decision making to maximize cost-effective adoption of green design and construction strategies)

You can read more about the LEED Gold certification and this great achievement at the Vault web site. Congratulations Vault!