Digital Realty Trust Receives InfoWorld's Green 15 Award for Industry Leadership in Green IT

May 1, 2008; 02:34 AM

Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: DLR), a leading owner and manager of corporate and Internet gateway datacenters , announced today that IDG's InfoWorld, the leading integrated media brand for IT Decision Makers, has selected the Company for InfoWorld’s 2008 Green 15 Awards.

The InfoWorld Green 15 Awards recognize the 15 most innovative IT initiatives that use green technology and sustainable practices for IT projects and products that boost energy efficiency, trim waste, and reduce or eliminate the use or production of harmful substances. Digital Realty Trust was recognized for its leadership in increasing datacenter energy efficiency and for its completion of the industry’s first LEED Gold certified datacenter. Energy efficiency in datacenters is a critical issue in any discussion of green IT because they are energy-intensive.  In addition, both the number of datacenters as well as their power usage is predicted to increase significantly in the near future as corporations require more IT infrastructure to support their business operations. 

“Many organizations worldwide are struggling with high energy costs, as well as limited space and power to meet their computing needs. At the same time they are feeling pressure from investors, legislators, customers, and from within their organizations to cut waste, reduce their carbon footprint, and be better environmental stewards. The InfoWorld Green 15 winners clearly demonstrate how sustainable technology initiatives can be complementary – even instrumental – in achieving corporate goals. Digital Realty Trust’s LEED Gold datacenter represents a milestone in the green datacenter movement and offers a compelling model for increasing datacenter energy efficiency at a time when datacenter energy consumption is accelerating,” said Ted Samson, Senior Analyst, InfoWorld.

Digital Realty Trust’s LEED Gold certified datacenter, the first in the industry, is located in its 350 East Cermak Road facility in Chicago – a 1.1 million square foot historical landmark in downtown Chicago that now serves as a state-of-the-art corporate and Internet gateway facility for the greater Chicago region. The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System(TM) is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings. LEED gives building owners and operators the tools they need to have an immediate and measurable impact on their buildings' performance. LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality.

“This award is a tremendous honor and a fantastic validation of our efforts to adopt best practices that increase datacenter energy efficiency and share information publicly that supports industry-wide initiatives to make datacenters greener,” said Mike Foust, CEO of Digital Realty Trust. “As one of the industry’s largest owners of datacenter facilities, we are in a unique position to implement a wide range of green initiatives and evaluate the impact and cost-effectiveness of various technologies and processes. This LEED Gold datacenter was a particularly important effort because it demonstrates the value of LEED guidelines for datacenters – providing a proven methodology for green building design at a time when clear standards for green datacenters have not yet been established in our industry.”

Another important green initiative that Digital Realty Trust is pioneering is a large-scale program to optimize the energy efficiency throughout the datacenters the Company owns and operates around the world, leveraging the engineering and operations teams’ expertise in datacenter power utilization and experience implementing best practices for increasing energy efficiency. As part of this program, Digital Realty Trust will be the first company in the datacenter industry to publish data about the energy efficiency of its datacenter facilities, using the Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) metric, an emerging industry standard, as the methodology for measuring and reporting energy efficiency. Digital Realty Trust will provide customers with data that will allow them to compare the energy efficiency of different datacenter facilities as well as   actionable information about how their datacenter operations are meeting their own green IT objectives. By publishing this data, Digital Realty Trust will also provide the datacenter industry with valuable benchmarks for industry-wide efforts to increase datacenter energy efficiency, enabling other companies to leverage this information to drive green initiatives in their own facilities.

About InfoWorld Media Group

InfoWorld Media Group helps IT Decision Makers choose the right technology, within the context of a cohesive strategy for business impact at their organizations.  InfoWorld identifies and promotes emerging technology segments that add unique value for the organizations that implement them, as well as the vendors that provide those solutions. Using an integrated communications approach including online, events, research, and a continued investment in an independent Test Center, InfoWorld analysts and editors provide hands-on analysis and evaluation, as well as expert commentary on issues surrounding emerging technologies and products. Visit InfoWorld at http://www.infoworld.com.

About International Data Group

International Data Group (IDG) is the world's leading technology media, events, and research company.  IDG’s online network includes more than 450 web sites spanning business technology, consumer technology, digital entertainment and video games worldwide.  IDG also publishes more than 300 magazines and newspapers in 85 countries.  IDG's media brands include CIO, CSO, Computerworld, GamePro, InfoWorld, Macworld, Network World, and PC World. IDG’s lead-generation service, IDG Connect, matches technology companies with an audience of engaged, high-quality IT professionals, influencers, and decision makers. IDG is a leading producer of more than 750 technology-related events including Macworld Conference & Expo, LinuxWorld Conference & Expo, Entertainment for All Expo (E for All), DEMO, Storage Networking World, and IDC Directions. IDC, a subsidiary of IDG, is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events. Over 900 IDC analysts in more than 90 countries provide global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends. Additional information about IDG, a privately held company, is available at http://www.idg.com.

About Digital Realty Trust, Inc.

Digital Realty Trust, Inc. owns, acquires, redevelops, develops and manages technology-related real estate. The Company is focused on providing Turn-Key Datacenter™ and Powered Base Building™ datacenter solutions for domestic and international tenants across a variety of industry verticals ranging from information technology and internet enterprises, to manufacturing and financial services. Digital Realty Trust's 71 properties, excluding one property held as an investment in an unconsolidated joint venture, contain applications and operations critical to the day-to-day operations of technology industry tenants and corporate enterprise datacenter tenants. Comprising approximately 12.6 million square feet as of April 1, 2008, including 2.0 million square feet of space held for redevelopment, Digital Realty Trust's portfolio is located in 26 markets throughout Europe and North America. For additional information, please visit Digital Realty Trust's website at http://www.digitalrealtytrust.com.