Apr 17 2013
BLACKIRON Data, a wholly owned subsidiary of PTGi (Primus Telecommunications Group, Incorporated), announced today their Toronto DC3 data centre has been awarded LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver certification by the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC).
LEED® is a third-party certification program and an internationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. As an internationally recognized mark of excellence, LEED® provides building owners and operators the tools they need to have an immediate and measurable impact on their buildings' performance.
"One of our top objectives in building this facility was to make it eco-friendly," said Ron Ethier, Vice President Data Centres and Operations, BLACKIRON Data. "Throughout the design and construction process, the BLACKIRON team considered how to make every facet of the data centre as environmentally responsible as we could. We are incredibly proud to have our Toronto DC3 data centre achieve LEED® Silver certification; the result of our team's hard work and innovation."
From concept to construction, BLACKIRON considered how to make the Toronto DC3 facility environmentally responsible. Highlights of the green features at the site include:
- Construction: Rather than build a new site from the ground up, BLACKIRON made the necessary modifications to the structure of an existing single-story building, following LEED® standards. A "building within a building" was created by adding interior wall sections, which helps to decrease cooling and heating requirements. With the diligence of the construction project management company, a minimum amount of construction waste was sent to landfills.
- Water reduction: Toronto DC3 uses cooling technology that does not use water, allowing BLACKIRON to save the significant amount of water traditionally associated with operating a data centre of similar size. Instead, the system leverages the cool Toronto temperatures to regulate heating and cooling. In warmer months, the data centre uses non-ozone depleting refrigerant system instead of a cooling tower, reducing water evaporation to the outside air. In addition, all water faucets and toilets are of a low-flow design and a water meter was installed to determine that all loads are aggregate amounts.
- Optimized energy performance: BLACKIRON's Toronto DC3 facility was designed to realize energy cost savings of 10% or more. The roofing system has a white reflective surface which repels the sun's heat, reducing the amount of cool air required. Automated sensors turn on lights when motion is detected and turn off when not occupied to save on electrical consumption and decrease light pollution. Data centre uninterruptible power supply (UPS) units are 97% efficient at limiting power loss and heat production from electrical resistance.
"I would like to congratulate BLACKIRON Data on their LEED Silver certification," said Thomas Mueller, President and CEO of the Canada Green Building Council. "It is great to see a data centre services provider taking this important step in recognizing that green building practices are important in all aspects of their operations. As one of the first data centres in Canada to achieve LEED certification, we hope it will set an example for other companies to follow."
Over the past 15 years, BLACKIRON has worked diligently to construct, maintain and upgrade some of the best data centres in the country. Toronto DC3 is Canada's first Uptime Institute Tier III design and construction certified facility and one of eight BLACKIRON data centres located in five cities across Canada.