Corporate Sustainability
Explore how our larger Corporate Sustainability Program is creating shared environmental, social and governance value for our customers, partners, investors and employees.
View our sustainability initiatives
Long-term 100% Clean and Renewable Energy Goal
2017 RESULTS
3,495 GWh of renewables procured in 2017 across all three regions: Americas, Asia-Pacific, and EMEA (up from 2,077 GWh in 2016)
Overall Progress
90% renewable coverage for 2018 over our 77% renewable coverage in 2017
Recent Results
- 940,000 MWh of wind renewable energy certificates (RECs) received in 2017 from 225 MW of long-term Virtual Power Purchase Agreements (VPPAs) in the U.S.
- 530,000 MWh (2017) and 1,250,000 MWh (2018) of Green-e U.S. wind RECs purchased
- 514,000 MWh (2017) and 681,000 MWh (2018) of International RECs (I-RECs) and Japanese emissions reduction certificates (J-credits) sourced from China, Japan and Vietnam
- 1,500,000 MWh (2017) of supplier-backed bundled renewables provided in Europe
Overall Progress
- 77% renewable against our goal of 100%; an increase over 56% in 2016
- ~90% renewable coverage expected for 2018 representing an absolute increase in renewable energy procurement on a MWh-basis of 400% since2015
- 2017 regional progress against our goals: Americas 73% renewable, Asia-Pacific 65% renewable and EMEA 89% renewable
- In 2015, Equinix became the first data center company to join RE100
Green-Certified Data Centers
2017 Results
DC12, SV10, CH3 Phase 4, SG3 achieved LEED. SP3 and SY4 achieved LEED as ofthis writing
Overall Progress
1.7 million sq. ft. at 28 sites under LEED certification (20% of portfolio by sq. ft.)
Recent Results
- New LEED sites added in 2017: AT1 Phase 4 (Silver), CH3 Phase 4 (Silver), DC12 (Gold), SP3 (Gold), SV10 (Silver), HK5 (Gold), SY4 (Silver), LD6 (Gold)
- 58 EMEA IBXs certified to ISO50001:2011, and 62 IBXs certified to the ISO 14001:2015 Energy Management Standard (compared to 37 and 39 in 2016 respectively)
Overall Progress
- 22% of Equinix’s colocation footprint in sq. ft. globally is covered by LEED
- 32% and 33% of Equinix’s colocation footprint in sq. ft. globally is covered by ISO 50001 and 14001 respectively
- Equinix data centers and offices meet global and regional environmental and energy management standards or green building standards
- Our worldwide headquarters in California’s Silicon Valley has earned LEED® Gold Certification and all new builds target LEED Silver or equivalent certification
Commitment to Collaboration and Transparency
2017 Results
Equinix is #6 on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partnership National Top 100 list
Overall Progress
We support measurement, reporting and transparency around the impact of our operations
Recent Results
- As of October 2018, Equinix is #6 on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partnership National Top 100 list.
- Equinix received an “A-” score from CDP in 2017; placing us in the Leadership band.
Overall Progress
- Since 2016 Equinix’s greenhouse gas data has been third party audited and we have reported our climate change data to the CDP Investor and Supply Chain Surveys.
- Additional surveys we respond or interface with include: Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB), EcoVadis Supplier Sustainability Ratings, MSCI, Sustainalytics and FTSE Russell
- We support measurement, reporting and transparency around the impact of our operations
Effective Energy and Emission Reductions
OUR INVESTMENTS HAVE HELPED US AVOID
330,000
metric tons of CO2 emissions
Equivalent to emissions from 77,000 cars on the road for one year
Recent Results
- 40% reduction in market-based carbon footprint YoY (480,000 mtCO2e (2017) vs. 801,000 mtCO2e (2016)
- Customers of Equinix can take advantage of a low-carbon emissions factor in over 150 of our IB
- Electricity used in Equinix’s data centers accounts for 99% of our carbon footprint. We are committed to reducing our energy consumption and carbon footprint around the world
Overall Progress
- Market-based carbon footprint declined 73% since 2015 due to expanded global purchasing of renewable energy
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Since 2011, investments total $100 million in energy efficiency upgrades, retrofits, and improvements
- Represents 22,000 kilowatts of demand avoided annually or 800,000 MWh or 300,000 metric tons of CO
- We monitor our monthly Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) by site around the world to look for new opportunities to save energy
Green Innovation
We continuously look for innovative ways to deploy energy-saving technologies and on-site generation solutions.
Adaptive control systems
Reduce power consumption and increase cooling capacity through active airflow management using intelligent, distributed sensors and innovative control policies
ASHRAE thermal guidelines
Reduce power consumption for cooling, while maintaining a safe operating temperature for computing equipment
Cold/hot aisle containment
Lowers energy consumption and enables more efficient cooling by using physical barriers to reduce the mixing of cold air in data center supply aisles with the hot air in exhaust aisles
Energy-efficient lighting systems
Utilize motion-activated controls and/or LEDs to reduce energy consumption and ambient heat from operating lights
Fuel cells
Place electricity in close proximity to our energy consumption while allowing maximum efficiency and increased resiliency; Equinix has 38 MW of fuel cells deployed in the U.S.
Machine learning and AI
Used in several pilot projects to identify new energy efficiency improvements in our data centers
High temperature chilled water set points
Improve our design and operational PUEs by raising the chilled water temperature to save energy
Media Gallery
Green Rooftops
The rooftops at sites like AM3, ZH5 and PA6 are covered with plants and vegetation, which helps keep the buildings cool, lowers cooling cost and reduces storm water runoff, which can carry pollution into nearby lakes and rivers and contribute to flooding.
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Fuel Cells
Fuel cells offer performance/quality, reliability and resilience placing power near where it is consumed. SV5 was our alpha deployment of Bloom Energy fuel cells in 2015 (1 MW installation). Equinix has 38 MW of fuel cells at data centers in Silicon Valley (SV1, SV2, SV3, SV4, SV5, SV6, SV10), New York area (NY2, NY4, NY5) and Los Angeles area (LA3, LA4, LA7).
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Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES)
Equinix’s AM3 data center features an ATES system that employs cold groundwater to cool equipment during winter months, eliminating the need for traditional mechanical cooling within the data center. Excess heat is even used to warm buildings nearby. AM3 relies on free-air cooling the rest of the year. AM3 has achieved a remarkable design PUE of 1.19.
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Thermally enhanced design
Our SV5 data center incorporates techniques from state-of-the-art refrigeration systems to significantly reduce the power needed to cool the colocation floor. The system uses efficient direct expansion coils, lower fan power through air management approaches and an innovative evaporative condensing system that is less energy intensive than conventional air-cooled condensers.
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Deep Lake Water Cooling (DWLC) system
At TR1, we take advantage of Toronto’s DLWC system to utilize water drawn from the chilly depths of Lake Ontario to cool buildings in downtown Toronto. This novel approach reduces total energy needs by 50% or more.
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Green Collaboration and Recognition
We pursue our sustainability goals with the intention of continuously making progress. We join forces with partners across industries and share best practices. We get and give advice on how to do things better. As a result, we have been recognized by a variety of organizations for ourleadership in operating sustainably.
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