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Digital Realty Trust Adopts New BREEAM Sustainability Standards

Posted on: Monday, 30 March 2009, 17:09 CDT

Adopting standards at the very beginning pays dividends through whole life of building

DUBLIN, March 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sustainability, reduced running costs and increased long term building value are among the reasons that Digital Realty Trust, the world's largest wholesale datacentre provider, is adopting the newly announced BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) Bespoke datacentre standards for the future construction of its datacentres.

BREEAM Bespoke was first developed in 2000 to cover buildings not included in the mainstream environmental assessment schemes for offices, retail, healthcare and education.

Paul Gibbon, Director of Sustainability, BRE Global, said: "We are seeing a rise in interest in assessments for specialist building types, especially datacentres. Over the first 12 months of the datacentre scheme we will be refining it with feedback from actual assessments and in time this 'scheme' will become part of the standard suite for BREEAM.

"The advantage of scheme development using the framework of BREEAM Bespoke is that it reduces the cost of assessments and provides a ready made set of criteria against which developers, designers and clients can assess their buildings," he added.

Jim Smith, Chief Technology Officer for Digital Realty Trust, said, "Adopting the BREEAM standards right at the beginning of the initial design stages will not only build in reduced running costs because the building's insulation and cooling will be optimised, but in the longer term the value of the building can be expected to be higher than a comparable building which is not BREEAM accredited.

"The BREEAM certification process has tremendous value for the datacentre industry and we are adopting its guidelines as best practices for the way we design, build and operate datacentres around the world. 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, and we are very proud to be leading the way in green datacentres," he continued.

"We were the first company to achieve similar certification for a datacentre in the 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 also contribute a significant portion of our time to industry efforts to establish green datacentre standards, and to educating datacentre professionals about how to increase energy efficiency."

Early BREEAM assessment standards for datacentres were carried out as part of Digital Realty Trust developing a facility for a major financial institute which was completed late in 2008 which achieved an Excellent rating. The datacentre uses a unique heat recovery system which results in energy savings of up to 83 percent compared to conventional gas fired boilers. It also uses a building automation system which responds to changing atmospheric conditions making the most of when the ambient temperature is low.

About BREEAM and BRE Global

BREEAM (BRE Environmental Assessment Method) is the leading and most widely used environmental assessment method for buildings around the world, with over 110,000 buildings certified and over half a million registered. It sets the standard for best practice in sustainable design and has become the de facto measure used to describe a building's environmental performance. Credits are awarded in eight categories according to performance. These credits are then added together to produce a single overall score on a scale of Pass, Good, Very Good, Excellent and Outstanding which is also reflected in a star rating from 1 to 5 stars. The operation of BREEAM is overseen by an independent Sustainability Board, representing a wide cross-section of construction industry stakeholders. www.breeam.org

BRE Global Limited (incorporating LPCB & BREEAM) is an independent third party approvals body offering certification of fire, security and sustainability products and services to an international market. BRE Global mission is to 'Protect People, Property and the Planet' and is a trading subsidiary of the BRE Trust, the registered research and education charity which owns the BRE Group. For further information please contact: BRE Global, Garston, Watford, WD25 9XX, Tel: 01923 664100, Fax: 01923 664910, Email: enquiries@breglobal.com or visit www.breglobal.com

About Digital Realty Trust, Inc.

Digital Realty Trust owns, acquires, redevelops, develops and manages technology-related real estate. The Company is focused on providing Turn-Key Datacentre(SM) and Powered Base Building(SM) 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 75 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 1.2 million square metres (13.0 million square feet) as of December 31, 2008, including approximately 150,000 square metres (1.6 million square feet) of space held for redevelopment, Digital Realty Trust's portfolio is located in 27 markets throughout Europe and North America. For additional information, please visit Digital Realty Trust's website at www.digitalrealtytrust.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements that 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 related to the future cost saving for and values of BREEAM certified building and the Company's future plans for implementing the BREEAM standards. These risks and uncertainties include adverse economic or real estate developments in the Company's markets; general economic slow-downs or recessions; reductions in information technology spending; limited access to capital and liquidity issues for us, our customers or potential customers; difficulties in or inability to lease space, including redeveloped space; construction and development delays; increased development costs; tenant bankruptcies or defaults under leases by tenants; failure to commence rental payments on time under signed leases; increased interest rates; increased operating costs; failure to obtain necessary outside financing; decreased rental rates or increased vacancy rates; difficulties in identifying properties to acquire; completing acquisitions at all or at acceptable return levels; failure to successfully operate properties; failure of existing, acquired or redeveloped properties to perform as expected; reductions in property values; 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, including the Company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 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.

For Additional Information: A. William Stein Chief Financial Officer and Chief Investment Officer Digital Realty Trust, Inc. +1 415-738-6500 Pamela A. Matthews Investor/Analyst Information Digital Realty Trust, Inc. +1 415-738-6500 Bernard Geoghegan Senior Vice President International Operations Digital Realty Trust, Inc. +353 (1) 2450650

SOURCE Digital Realty Trust, Inc.

Source: PR Newswire

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