Published: September 18, 2008
Digital Realty Trust Datacentre for HSBC Earns First BREEAM 'Excellent' Environmental Rating in the UK
SAN FRANCISCO andLONDON, Sept. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Digital
Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: DLR), the leading owner and manager of corporate and
Internet gateway datacentres, announced today that a datacentre it is building
for HSBC (NYSE: HBC) has earned the first BREEAM 'Excellent' rating in the
United Kingdom under the Building Research Establishment's prestigious
environmental certification program. The 'Excellent' rating for bespoke design
and procurement is the highest available rating through BREEAM certification.
This certification -- the first in the UK datacentre industry -- recognises
the energy efficiency and environmentally sound construction and operations
practices of a new 10,000 square metre datacentre being built for HSBC, the
global banking and financial services institution. The development site in the
South ofEngland was acquired by Digital Realty Trust in April 2007 and the
datacentre facility is being developed by Digital Realty Trust to support
HSBC's global computing infrastructure. Digital Realty Trust partnered with
CHt Data Solutions of the Laing O'Rourke Group (http://www.laingorourke.com)
to construct the facility.
BREEAM is a leading environmental assessment method for buildings in the
UK. This recognition for the HSBC datacentre has followed two years of
assessments on sustainability initiatives, innovative design and project
management. Digital Realty Trust and HSBC estimate significant energy savings
and resultant reduction in power cost and CO2 emissions from this datacentre.
"We are very proud of this datacentre and proud that it has been
recognised as the first to meet the very high environmental standards of the
BREEAM 'Excellent' rating. The collaboration between HSBC, Digital Realty
Trust and the Laing O'Rourke Group has been excellent on this important
project, and we believe this facility sets a new standard for datacentres in
Europe," said Bernard Geoghegan, Senior Vice President of Digital Realty Trust
Europe. "This is the latest in a long list of industry firsts that Digital
Realty Trust has achieved for energy efficiency and environmental
responsibility in the datacentre field. We were the first company to achieve
LEED Gold certification for a datacentre inthe United States, the first
company to adopt the Green Grid's PUE energy efficiency measurement protocol,
and the first company to publicly publish energy efficiency data about its
facilities. We continue to be a leader in educating datacentre professionals
about best practices that achieve dramatic energy savings and cost savings for
their companies."
The building initially consisted of a pad foundation arrangement requiring
extensive excavation and transport of virgin material. Re-use of the existing
ground slab from a previous building became a possibility soon after project
commencement, offering significant recycled aggregate benefits. Fill material
produced on site could be utilised in conjunction with the existing slab,
thereby reducing waste, material usage and costs. Materials for the project
were responsibly sourced both on site via fill recycling and from audited
suppliers. Tracing the project supply chain back to materials source and
ensuring those suppliers held ISO14001 certification, secured additional
BREEAM points.
Digital Realty Trust has built custom datacentres for numerous global
companies, including financial services companies that have very specific,
complex datacentre requirements for the high-volume, low-latency computing
systems. Digital Realty Trust manages all build-to-suit datacentre projects
using its proprietary Gating Process(TM) which ensures delivery of custom
datacentre projects through the timely, efficient coordination of all
processes involved in design and construction while optimising costs. Unlike
traditional development methods for build-to-suit projects, Digital Realty
Trust's Gating Process(TM) provides customers with transparency and inputs at
key stages of the project -- from scope and schematic through commissioning
and completion -- ensuring that the finished datacentre facility supports the
unique needs of each organisation.
About HSBC Holdings plc
HSBC Holdings plc serves more than 100 million customers worldwide through
9,500 offices in 85 countries and territories inEurope,Asia-Pacific, the
Americas, theMiddle East andAfrica. With assets of some US$2,547 billion at
30 June 2008, HSBC is one of the world's largest banking and financial
services organisations. HSBC is marketed worldwide as 'the world's local
bank'.
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 Datacentre(TM) and Powered Base Building(TM) datacentre 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 74 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 datacentre tenants.
Comprising approximately 12.9 million rentable square feet as of August 6,
2008, including 1.9 million square feet of space held for redevelopment,
Digital Realty Trust's portfolio is located in 27 markets throughoutNorth
America andEurope. For additional information, please visit Digital Realty
Trust's website at http://www.digitalrealtytrust.com.
About Laing O'Rourke
Laing O'Rourke is a total solutions provider to the built environment
operating acrossEurope, theMiddle East,Asia and Australasia, with an order
book in excess of pounds Sterling 10 billion. Through its 31,000-strong
directly employed labour force, Laing O'Rourke provides programme leadership
and innovative technology-led delivery resources to some of the most
challenging construction projects in the world including Heathrow Terminal 5,
the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (St Pancras) and Al Raha Beach,Abu Dhabi. CHt
Data Solutions was established as a business in December 2006. With a unique
reputation for being different and capable, it has an extensive portfolio of
major data centres. It is part of Crown House Technologies -- the
international building technologies business within the Laing O'Rourke Group.
For more information visit http://www.laingorourke.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements which are based on
current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ
materially, including statements regarding potential energy savings. These
risks and uncertainties include adverse economic or real estate developments
in the Company's markets or the technology industry; general economic
conditions or recession; construction and development delays, termination of
leases by tenants; increased interest rates and operating costs; inability to
manage domestic; failure to obtain necessary outside financing; decreased
rental rates or increased vacancy rates; difficulties in identifying
properties to acquire and completing acquisitions at acceptable return levels;
failure to successfully operate acquired properties and operations; failure of
acquired properties to perform as expected; failure to successfully redevelop
properties acquired for such purposes or unexpected costs related thereto;
failure to maintain the Company's status as a REIT; environmental
uncertainties and risks related to natural disasters; financial market
fluctuations; changes in foreign currency exchange rates; risks of operating
in foreign markets; and changes in real estate and zoning laws and increases
in real property tax rates. For a further list and description of such risks
and uncertainties, see the reports and other filings by the Company with the
United States Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, including the
Company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007 and
the Company's quarterly reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31,
2008 and June 30, 2008. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to
update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.
A. William Stein Pamela A. Matthews
Chief Financial Officer and Investor/Analyst Information
Chief Investment Officer Digital Realty Trust, Inc.
Digital Realty Trust, Inc. +1 415-738-6500
+1 415-738-6500
Chris Crosby
Sales & Technical Services
Digital Realty Trust, Inc.
+1 214-231-1350
SOURCE Digital Realty Trust, Inc.
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