Sustainable and resilient data centre design: the world's first LEED Platinum certified data centre

Sustainable data centre design: a new architectural language

Arup’s multi-disciplinary approach was central to the seamless adoption of an integrated sustainability strategy. Our engineers calculated energy use at initiation of the design process, which informed the building orientation, spatial configuration, and mechanical systems; and has generated cladding and façade shading systems that respond to solar orientation.

The architectural design is aligned with this: despite its functional geometry, Arup created a modern, human-friendly data centre featuring a high-tech workplace with large open spaces, landscaped gardens and an iconic green wall.

The offices feature natural day lighting and ventilation via glazed façades, with external timber louvres made of white oak, designed to contrast with the metallic external façade of the technical facility. The functional and aesthetic aspects as well as their CO₂ balance and later reusability played a decisive role in the selection of all materials. Disguising the full volume of the data hall, the iconic green wall featured indigenous plants and was fully irrigated by harvested rainwater. The wall, measuring some 55m by 12m high, complemented the extensive green roof and helped maintain a constant building temperature throughout the year while reducing thermal gain in the summer months. 

Resilient, energy-efficient infrastructure design

The data centre meets the highest requirements in terms of supply security. The innovative and consistently planned technical infrastructure for secure and economical operation enabled a “quantum leap” in the energy efficiency of data centers in 2012 and, with a PUE (power usage effectiveness) value of < 1.2, is still one of the most efficient data centers in the world today. We designed the data centre hall partitions precast as concrete wall panels with predefined and co-ordinated services penetrations, providing additional security while contributing to the hall’s thermal inertia. 

Innovative problem-solving with state-of-the-art tools

Working closely with the client, we developed an innovative concept for a safer, more economical supply, a cooling system that does more than 70% without chillers and a reverse osmosis concept for recycling cooling tower water that makes the use of chemicals almost superfluous and reduces water consumption by 30%.

To validate our own planning variants, we used tools such as CFD (Computer Fluid Dynamics) air flow modelling and failure probability simulations to guide the decision-making process together with the client, enabling the development of groundbreaking solutions. Our solutions were developed in the interaction of architecture, building physics and technical building equipment and are characterized by particularly high quality, sustainability and cost-effectiveness.

From "Go for Gold" to "Platinum“

Sustainability has always been a central aspect of our planning. The goal of LEED Gold certification was ultimately exceeded with the world's first platinum certification of a data center. In Germany, the Citibank Data Center was the first building ever to receive LEED certification. 

Following the commissioning of the data centre, Arup has remained closely associated as a partner for all subsequent conversion and expansion measures, supporting Citigroup with energy monitoring and operational optimization.