SUSTAINABILITY state-of-the-art technology to be as energy efficient as possible . It is also one of the few data centres in Europe to have been built from the ground up .
LD6 is located just outside London in Slough , an area attractive in part because of its ultra-fast connectivity - it is just four milliseconds in internet time away from Frankfurt , and 30 milliseconds from New York .
The centre uses 24MW of power and has almost 3,000 cabinets , but despite this sheer size it operates entirely on green sources , and meets the LEED Gold energy rating .
For 85 % of the year , the centre is cooled by the outside air passing through its vents , using the indirect evaporative cooling system . James Green , UK Sales Engineer at Equinix , explains : “ If the air outside is less than 22 ° C , then we can use that to cool it . That cold air causes the transfer of heat energy , and it is then returned into the data pool . This means we can control humidity , and any pollutants are kept outside .
“ When it ’ s over 22 ° C , just like when you step out of the shower and the water evaporates off your skin , it ’ s the same process : the water evaporates off the pipe , takes the heat away , and cold air goes back in .”
The centre has additional units which are turned on when the temperature rises above 30 ° C .
During construction , an underground borehole was dug to harvest rainwater . This extracts around 100,000 litres a year from the Queen Mother Reservoir , one of the largest inland areas of water in southern England , which spans 475 acres and runs from Slough all the way to the Cotswolds towards the west . The hole itself is 360ft deep . “ It ’ s a really big deal ,” Green says . “ 360ft down is the height of the Eiffel Tower . It ’ s our primary water source . When it was designed that was one of the things we thought about .”
The recognition These aspects of design meant LD6 became the first data centre in Europe to achieve ISO 50001 certification . Most recently it has also been shortlisted for Building Technology of the Year by the Business Green Technology Awards along with Toshiba , an award that recognises the advances technology companies in a number of different sectors have made in terms of clean , low-emission energy .
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