SAN FRANCISCO — Digital Realty earned the National Association of Real Estate Investments Trusts (Nareit’s) "Leader in the Light" award for data center sustainability for the third consecutive year. The award, presented at the annual REITworld conference in Los Angeles, honors Nareit member companies that have produced superior, measurable results from the implementation of sustainable business practices.
In 2018, Digital Realty added 104 MW of renewable energy contracts across its U.S. portfolio, bringing the total executed under long-term contracts to 288 MW of renewable energy. Last year, the company's renewable energy efforts resulted in 533,900 metric tons of avoided carbon emissions, the equivalent of taking 113,000 cars off the road each year or the electricity needs of more than 93,000 homes per year. In 2019, the company announced an additional 50 MW of renewables to support its data centers in Ashburn, Virginia, and signed a green tariff agreement with Portland General Electric (PGE), which will supply approximately 120,000 megawatt-hours annually to Digital Realty's data center development project in Hillsboro, Oregon.
"We are honored to be recognized again for our excellent track record on sustainability," said A. William Stein, Digital Realty’s CEO. "As the largest data center provider in the world, it's our duty to prioritize and champion environmental stewardship and responsible business practices. We are proud to enable our customers to meet their renewable energy goals while continuing to meet our own industry-leading ESG goals through our comprehensive sustainability strategies and solutions."
"We have more than doubled our renewable energy sourcing over the past few years, with the goal of bringing our customers into purpose-built, sustainable data center facilities,” said Aaron Binkley, senior director of sustainability, Digital Realty. “Our long-term goal is to power our global portfolio with 100% renewable energy. We work with our customers, suppliers and employees to scale our sustainability initiatives to enhance efficiency and improve the environmental performance of the data center industry."
For more information, visit www.digitalrealty.com.