U.S. Green Building Council has awarded a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification to Allstate Insurance Company’s new data center in Rochelle, Illinois. The Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI) has verified the certification. LEED is the leading program for certifying high performance green buildings in the country for their design, construction and operation.
The Allstate Insurance’s date center is one among the few critical data centers in the country to be awarded Gold certification from USGBC. The company is aiming to reduce its data centers to two by 2010 year end and to enhance computing capacity and power efficiency.
Some of the green features in the data center that helped it to attain the LEED Gold certification include: incorporating a wide range of sustainable technology; construct and design strategies to reduce the impact on the environment; use of advanced hardware and software that enabled the data center to reduce the power and space for computers by 50%; use of technology that mixes heat generated from computers, mechanical equipment and outside air to keep equipment rooms cool and office areas comfortable; a heat reflecting white roof; capitalizing natural light through glass on outside walls; use of recycled materials for making concrete; and native landscaping that requires minimal maintenance.
Buildings that are LEED certified use less water and energy thus help taxpayers, businesses, and families to save money; contribute for a healthy environment for workers, residents and the community.
Source: www.allstate.com
