Global Switch’s latest data centre in Hong Kong achieves the prestigious LEED Platinum Certification

Hong Kong, 25 October 2018 – Global Switch, a leading owner, operator and developer of large-scale, carrier and cloud neutral, multi-customer data centres in Europe and Asia-Pacific, has announced that the first stage of its Hong Kong data centre has received a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum certification. This status is rarely awarded to such facilities and Global Switch Hong Kong is one of only three carrier and cloud neutral data centres in the region to obtain the accreditation. The Platinum certification indicates the achievement of the highest levels of environmental responsibility in construction.

Global Switch was delighted to receive the Award which was presented by US Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Mahesh Ramnanujam, President and CEO and Andy To, North Asia Managing Director at the 2018 Green Build International Conference in Shanghai. LEED is an internationally recognised green building rating system developed by the USGBC to help building owners and operators be environmentally responsible and use resources efficiently. LEED includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction, operations and maintenance of buildings and covers aspects such as energy savings, water use, the selection of green materials and choice of resources as well as the quality levels of indoor environments.

The first stage of Global Switch Hong Kong, which launched in December 2017, obtained 100% scores in Innovation in Design and Regional Priority as well as exceptionally high scores in the important Sustainable Sites and Energy and Atmosphere areas demonstrating best in class design of the new data centre which is strategically located, close to key submarine cable systems, in this important business and financial hub.

This certification was achieved by incorporating some of the latest environmental design features and methods including:

• Incorporating advanced cooling systems including variable speed fans, free cooling systems, and low energy CRAH units.
• Installation of sophisticated measurement and monitoring systems to optimise energy performance and energy consumption.
• Using diesel rotary uninterrupted power supplies (DRUPS) which have reduced emissions, noise pollution and fuel consumption compared to other solutions. The power system uses an IP Bus solution which shares the load across the DRUPS units to maximise efficiency, whilst avoiding single points of failure.
• Utilising, where possible, recycled or sustainable materials or components that assisted with achieving maximum building efficiency.
• Diverting more than 82% of construction and demolition waste from going to landfill.

The data centre is targeting a market leading PUE of less than 1.5. The first stage has managed to achieve energy savings of around 16,000 tonnes per year in CO² emissions which is equivalent to the greenhouse gas emissions from around 40 million miles driven by an average car vehicle. The LEED Platinum certification is further evidence of Global Switch's ongoing commitment to reducing its impact on the environment through energy efficiency, reduction in carbon emissions and the provision of green energy solutions to customers.

Andy To, North Asia, USGBC said “Congratulations to Global Switch for successfully obtaining LEED Platinum certification for their Hong Kong data centre. While being a cornerstone of today's global economic development, data centres consume 100 times more energy than complex commercial office buildings. LEED certification is a strong commitment to greener and more efficient data centres. We feel very honoured to have industry pioneers like Global Switch.”

Chris Cheng, Global Switch's Managing Director in Hong Kong said "Achieving this key certification for the first stage of Global Switch Hong Kong is testament to the high quality environmental design we have applied to all aspects of the data centre from initial concept through to build and its ongoing operation. Sustainability and energy efficiency are vital components for today’s data centre offering and I am delighted that we have delivered one of the most energy efficient data centres in Hong Kong.”

Due to customer demand, the second and final stage of Global Switch Hong Kong is under construction and is due to launch at the end of 2019. In order to maximise efficiencies, the same leading environmental design concepts and construction standards that were applied to the first stage are being utilised for the remaining stages. Global Switch is also targeting a Hong Kong Green Building Council’s BEAM Plus gold rating and is well advanced towards achieving certification to ISO 14001 Environmental Management System.

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