Compass Datacenters announced that its data center in North Carolina's Raleigh-Durham area has received LEED Gold certification from the US Green Building Council.

The 22,000 sq ft facility was built to the same design the Dallas-based data center developer and operator uses for all data centers it builds for clients in second-tier US markets. LEED Gold is the second-highest rating in the USGBC's ranking system for buildings that minimize environmental impact.

The data center, completed earlier this year in Research Triangle Park, was built using sustainable engineering and construction practices that adhere to the USGBC’s standards for materials use, water use, energy efficiency and other sustainability criteria.

Chris Crosby, Compass CEO, said he had been a long-time proponent of LEED for data centers. “I am proud that Compass has earned the first of many LEED certifications for the dedicated data center facilities we build for customers.

“LEED has tremendous value for the data center industry because the principles LEED is based upon are the same principles that are so important to us as data center professionals: stewardship of materials, capital efficiency, proven best practices for operations, resourcefulness, and on and on.”

He added that claims of efficiency by data center providers are empty unless they go through the rigorous LEED process during construction.