REDWOOD
CITY, Calif., Dec. 6, 2022
/PRNewswire/ -- Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX), the world's
digital infrastructure company™, today announced its commitment to
reducing its overall power use by increasing operating temperature
ranges within its data centers – the first such commitment by an
operator of colocation data centers. Starting immediately, Equinix
will begin to define a multi-year global roadmap for thermal
operations within its data centers aimed at achieving significantly
more efficient cooling and decreased carbon impacts, all while
continuing to deliver the premium operating environment Equinix is
known for. Over time, this initiative is expected to enable
thousands of Equinix customers to reduce the Scope 3 carbon
emissions associated with their data center operations as supply
chain sustainability becomes an increasingly important part of the
overall environmental initiatives of today's businesses.
IT equipment within data centers, including routers, servers and
storage arrays, emit high levels of heat that requires data centers
to be fitted with robust cooling systems to remove that heat. "Most
datacenters operate within restrictive temperature and humidity
bands, resulting in environments that are unnecessarily cooler than
required," said Rob Brothers,
Program Vice President, Datacenter Services, IDC. "Equinix will
work with enterprises to change the way we think about operating
temperatures within datacenter environments and how the industry
can ensure optimal service levels for mission-critical digital
infrastructure, while improving data center efficiencies. With this
initiative, Equinix will play a key role in driving change in the
industry and help shape the overall sustainability story we all
need to participate in."
"As a long-time partner, we are pleased to see that Equinix is
driving efficient data center operations through smart, sustainable
operating practices," said Sue
Preston, vice president and general manager, Advisory and
Professional Services, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE).
"Optimizing data center temperatures results in more efficient
operations, benefitting businesses and the planet. Through the HPE
GreenLake alliance, both HPE and Equinix offer a comprehensive,
cloud-smart and sustainable customer solution."
As a part of this new efficiency initiative, Equinix expects to
operate its facilities closer to 27°C (80°F), aligning operating
limits across its global data center portfolio with the globally
accepted boundaries of the A1A standards from the American Society
of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE).
When combined with existing Equinix initiatives such as optimizing
the use of outside air temperatures to cool its data centers, this
new initiative will contribute to the overall sustainability of its
data centers through efficiency improvements measured through Power
Usage Effectiveness (PUE). PUE represents the total amount of power
being used by a data center divided by the power used to run the IT
equipment within the data center, providing an industry standard
for data center energy efficiency.
"Our cooling systems account for approximately 25% of our total
energy usage globally," said Raouf
Abdel, Executive Vice President, Global Operations for
Equinix. "With this new initiative, we can intelligently adjust the
thermostat in our data centers in the same way that consumers do in
their homes. Once rolled out across our current global data center
footprint, we anticipate energy efficiency improvements of as much
as 10% in various locations."
"Data centers are critical to our daily lives, housing the
equipment and interconnecting the businesses that fuel our digital
lives – from online shopping to sending emails to streaming movies
and video calls," said Jon Lin,
Executive Vice President and General Manager, Data Center Services
for Equinix. "As more than 10,000 businesses globally rely on
Equinix's digital infrastructure, it plays a critical role in their
supply chains. This initiative, once deployed, has the potential to
significantly benefit these businesses as they seek to reduce the
Scope 3 carbon emissions in their supply chain to meet their
overall climate targets. It marks an important step in our
comprehensive sustainability program and our climate-neutral
commitment."
Highlights/Key Facts
- Equinix was the first in the data center industry to commit to
becoming climate neutral, aligned to approved science-based
targets, for emissions reduction across its global operations and
supply chain by 2030.
- Equinix recently signed two new Power Purchase Agreements
(PPAs) in Finland for the creation
of new renewable energy generation, bringing its total renewable
energy capacity under long-term contract globally to approximately
300MW.
- Equinix's renewable energy coverage has been over 90% since
2018. In 2021, the company achieved 95% renewable energy
coverage.
Additional Resources
- The 4 Principles of Sustainable Data Center Design [Equinix
blog]
- Equinix Sustainability & Reports [Equinix website]
About Equinix
Equinix (Nasdaq: EQIX) is the world's digital infrastructure
company™. Digital leaders harness Equinix's trusted platform to
bring together and interconnect foundational infrastructure at
software speed. Equinix enables organizations to access all the
right places, partners and possibilities to scale with agility,
speed the launch of digital services, deliver world-class
experiences and multiply their value, while supporting their
sustainability goals.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains
forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties.
Actual results may differ materially from expectations discussed in
such forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause such
differences include, but are not limited to, risks to our business
and operating results related to the COVID-19 pandemic; the current
inflationary environment; foreign currency exchange rate
fluctuations; increased costs to procure power and the general
volatility in the global energy market; the challenges of
acquiring, operating and constructing IBX® and
xScale® data centers and developing, deploying and
delivering Equinix products and solutions; unanticipated costs or
difficulties relating to the integration of companies we have
acquired or will acquire into Equinix; a failure to receive
significant revenues from customers in recently built out or
acquired data centers; failure to complete any financing
arrangements contemplated from time to time; competition from
existing and new competitors; the ability to generate sufficient
cash flow or otherwise obtain funds to repay new or outstanding
indebtedness; the loss or decline in business from our key
customers; risks related to our taxation as a REIT and other risks
described from time to time in Equinix filings with the Securities
and Exchange Commission. In particular, see recent and upcoming
Equinix quarterly and annual reports filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, copies of which are available upon request
from Equinix. Equinix does not assume any obligation to update the
forward-looking information contained in this press release.
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SOURCE Equinix, Inc.