Washington State Data Center Earns LEED Gold

benaroya-datacenter

The exterior of the North Data Center at the Benaroya Company's new South Hills Business and Technology Park in Puyallup, Washington.

The newly completed South Hill North Data Center in Puyallup, Washington has earned Gold-level certification under the LEED ( Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) program for energy efficient buildings, the project's developer said this week. The Benaroya Company developed the South Hill facility, which features 56,605 square feet of raised floor space and electricity powered by hydroelectric and wind sources.

As with many data centers in the Pacific Northwest, the location offers the opportunity to utilize outside air with air-side economizers and evaporative cooling to cool the facility at an extremely low cost. Puyallup is located about 20 miles south of the Seattle-Tacoma AirportTac International Airport, and about 35 miles from downtown Seattle.

"South Hill Data Center is very attractive both fiscally and environmentally," said Larry Benaroya of The Benaroya. "Customers will enjoy savings of 35 percent or more in energy and maintenance costs due to the award-winning green design. We strive to be sensitive to green building practices by using sustainable design and technology to deliver very significant energy savings and the LEED Gold Certification is a strong validation of our efforts."

Benaroya says the 92-acre South Hill campus is supported by a dedicated onsite substation with 42.5 megawatts of available power, which is expandable to 67.5 megawatts.

For more on energy-efficient data centers, see our Green Data Centers Channel and our Special Report: Data Centers & Renewable Energy.