Skip navigation

365 Main Commits to LEED Data Centers

Data center developer 365 Main Inc. has made a commitment to full compliance with the LEED "green building" certification system.

Data center developer 365 Main Inc. has made a commitment to full compliance with the LEED "green building" certification system from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), a non-profit organization of leaders from every sector of the building industry.

365 Main said its new data center in Newark, Calif. will be LEED-certified. Design and construction has already begun on the 136,410-square-foot facility, which will open in the fourth quarter of this year 2007.

Only a handful of data centers have been certified under the LEED standard, including the Highmark Data Center in Pennsylvania and the FNMA Technology Center in Urbana, Md. The Los Angeles County Data Center is expected to achieve LEED certification when it is completed later this year, according to local officials.


The LEED program awards points for environmental design in five areas: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality.
365 Main announced a series of improvements in the newly announced Newark facility and "all future projects." These include the use of:

  • Recycled and regionally sourced construction materials.
  • Computer Room Air Handlers (CRAHs) that consume 30 percent less energy than traditional CRAHs by allowing air conditioning units to intelligently ramp up and down to achieve required under-floor air pressure.
  • Make Up Air Handler units with outside air economizers that use 100 percent outside air on days when the temperature is cool enough to achieve data center cooling requirements.
  • Various other improvements, including energy-efficient lighting, lighting controls, water-efficient landscaping and alternative transportation modifications.

"As a fast-growing leader in its industry, we applaud the extraordinary commitment 365 Main is making to the green movement," Richard Fredrizzi, CEO of USGBC, said in a press release. "This level of socially responsible corporate behavior enables a healthy and prosperous environment that improves quality of life, and we hope one day it will become the norm rather than the exception."

The Newark data center will be 365 Main's sixth facility. The company has existing facilities in San Francisco, Oakland, El Segundo, Calif., Chandler, Ariz. and Chantilly, Va. The company plans to open a seventh data center in Vernon, Calif. in 2008.

"Today's announcement is a demonstration of the seriousness with which we take our commitment to energy efficiency," said Chris Dolan, chief executive officer of 365 Main. "Pledging to build only LEED-certified data centers is a significant undertaking, but we believe in the importance of green development, and we are extremely proud to be the first data center developer and operator to make this promise. We're also pleased to be opening another facility in the San Francisco Bay Area, which is a reflection of the tremendous momentum we're experiencing in this region and also shows the speed with which we're able to meet the growing data center needs of our customers."