GE’s new data centre secures LEED Platinum certification

GE Appliances & Lighting’s new data centre at its Appliance Park headquarters in Louisville, US has secured LEED Platinum certification from the US Green Building Council.

The $48m new data centre, built by revitalising an existing building, offers 34% greater energy savings than a typical code-compliant building.

GE has installed innovative, high-efficiency cooling systems, high-density servers to pack more computing power per square foot, reducing floor space by half compared with the data centre it replaces.

The building reduces water consumption by 42% compared with the industry baseline by installing ultra-low-flow fixtures while outside the building it reduces water consumption by 100%.

GE redeveloped an unused manufacturing facility, maintaining nearly 100% of the walls and floors; the company implemented a UPS system featuring eBoost technology to give it up to 99% efficiency.

Key elements that enabled the project to earn LEED Platinum included sourcing 50.7% of construction materials regionally, building with 30.2% recycled materials and diverting 85.4% of on-site generated construction waste from landfill.