Digital Realty, a leading global provider of data center, colocation and interconnection solutions, announced the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Better Buildings Alliance and the Institute for Market Transformation (IMT) have recognized Digital Realty as a 2020 Green Lease Leader. Green Lease Leaders set national standards for what constitute a green lease and include building owners and customers who modernize their leases to spur collaborative action on energy efficiency, cost savings, air quality and sustainability in buildings.
Digital Realty has achieved GOLD Recognition for its green lease provisions across its portfolio of 275 data centers around the world. As part of the company’s long-term sustainability vision of building a greener future, Digital Realty launched its green leasing initiatives in 2017 and has since seen a 78% adoption rate among eligible new customer leases. In addition, leases encompassing an additional 3.9 million square feet have a standalone energy efficiency capital expense cost-recovery clause.
“As a leader in the data center industry, we recognize the important responsibility we have to provide our customers with best-in-class energy efficient and sustainable solutions,” said Digital Realty Chief Executive Officer A. William Stein. “We are proud to be the first data center provider to incorporate green lease provisions across our portfolio and we are committed to continuing our efforts to enact environmental, social and governance initiatives that create a positive impact for our partners, customers and employees.”
Digital Realty also recently announced it has joined the Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi), a group of more than 860 global companies committed to setting carbon emission reduction targets backed by climate science. Digital Realty expects to partner with SBTi to develop specific targets by year-end.
This year’s Green Lease Leaders represent portfolios totaling more than one billion square feet and comprise a diverse range of buildings from large and small commercial offices to industrial buildings to data centers. Green Lease Leaders manage nearly three billion square feet of commercial and government space across North America, representing a huge potential for growth in green leases. IMT estimates that green leases can help reduce utility bills by up to about 50 cents per square foot in U.S. office buildings alone, and if all leased office buildings executed green leases, the market could reap over $3 billion in annual cost savings.
To learn more about Digital Realty’s sustainability initiatives, please visit: here. Learn more about Green Leasing by visiting GreenLeaseLeaders.com or reading Green Lease Leaders’ case studies.
