HSBC hits green target with new datacentre

HSBC has won the UK’s first “Excellent” rating for design and procurement of its new North London Datacentre, from the authoritative Building Research Establishment.

The building, which will be completed in the first half of 2009, will be the first of three new datacentres in the UK for the bank, all of which will be designed with a focus on sustainability.

The bank worked with Digital Realty Trust and CHt Data Solutions - part of the Laing O'Rourke Group and expects substantial reductions in annual energy and carbon dioxide emissions, at the new site.

Securing the Trust’s “Bream” rating was important to the bank, said Francis Sullivan, Advisor on the Environment, HSBC.

“Through the work of HSBC and the expertise of consultants, the environmental impacts have been minimised, setting a standard for the UK and HSBC buildings globally,” she said.
"This rating is a triumph of collaborative working to produce a truly sustainable design. Datacentres, by definition, are heavy users of energy.”

Ken Harvey, HSBC Group CIO added, “Designing sustainability into all our new global datacentres is a victory for everyone. Whilst meeting our corporate commitment to be a carbon neutral Bank, we also save operating costs.

“We have found significant support within the industry to providing next generation equipment and designs with conservation in mind.” Ken Harvey - Group Chief Information Officer, HSBC.

Green initiatives often falter when IT and facilities fail to agree on ownership or priorities, but Peter Trusler - Group Head of Corporate Real Estate at HSBC was enthusiastic about the environmental ranking the building achieved.

“Developing our datacentres to BREEAM criteria enables us to benchmark and improve our environmental performance,” he said.

HSBC plans to spend $40 million to improve the environmental performance of its office buildings around the world as part of a $90 million, five year, global environmental efficiency programme.