Equinix, Inc. a provider of network-neutral data centers and Internet exchange services, today announced that its four Switzerland based centers have been certified as operating on 100% green energy.
The company's three Zurich based centers were recently certified by Naturemade Star, the Swiss label for green power production and green electricity products. These centers receive hydropower provided by ewz, the Zurich-based electricity supplier. Equinix's Geneva center was converted to hydropower at the beginning of 2005 and has received the same certification. Dr. Conrad Ammann, Direktor of ewz comments: "Since October 1, 2006, our customers have been able to choose the nature of their electricity themselves. We are delighted that Equinix has decided to do their part for the environment by drawing electricity from our EWZ Watertop product which provides pure Eco-current drawn from a hydroelectric power plant certified by Naturemade Star.
Frits van der Graaff, General Manager of Equinix in Switzerland comments: "We decided to move to 100% green energy due to its positive impact on the environment and the fact that we can implement these environmentally conscious measures while offering customers the highest levels of power reliability in the industry. Equinix takes its responsibilities to its customers and its social, economic and environmental responsibilities very seriously.
Equinix has a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy that drives the conduct of the business in its various roles as an employer, supplier, buyer and consumer. A significant element of its CSR strategy is to reduce the environmental impact of Equinix data centers while maintaining the highest levels of performance for customers. Equinix is looking to achieve this by using energy more efficiently in the data centers, improving data center design and infrastructure, using renewable energies where possible and purchasing quality assured carbon offsets.
"Our customers in Switzerland can now be confident that their systems run on environmentally friendly electricity, with a high-performance backup system that ensures uninterrupted power even in the event of utility power disruption. This will aid our customers by contributing to their own environmental policies and efforts, concludes Frits.