Energy-Efficient Facility Also Wins Beyond Green™ Award
Columbus, Ohio [February 26, 2010] – Emerson’s (NYSE: EMR) state-of-the-art, energy-efficient Global Data Center in St. Louis has earned two high-profile industry recognitions for environmental responsibility: LEED® Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council and a 2009 Beyond Green™ High-Performance Building Award from the Sustainable Buildings Industry Council.
The 35,000-square-foot Emerson Global Data Center, located on the company’s St. Louis headquarters campus, supports Emerson’s worldwide manufacturing and engineering operations. The data center is 31 percent more energy efficient than traditional data centers and is home to Missouri’s largest solar array – a 7,800-square-foot rooftop array of more than 550 solar panels.
“The LEED Gold certification – a rare designation for a data center – is a significant validation of Emerson’s commitment to energy efficiency and environmental responsibility,” said Emerson Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and President David N. Farr. “The certification, along with the Beyond Green honor, recognizes Emerson’s innovative approach and efficient technologies for managing one of the most vexing problems facing data center managers – energy consumption.”
The LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system, established by the U.S. Green Building Council and verified by the Green Building Certification Institute, is the nation’s pre-eminent program for the design, construction, and operation of high-performance green buildings. Emerson earned 40 out of a possible 51 points to receive LEED Gold certification.
The Sustainable Buildings Industry Council bestowed a Beyond Green honor on the Emerson Global Data Center in the “Innovative Solution for a Niche Market Application” category. This award recognizes initiatives that shape, inform, and catalyze the high-performance building market, as well as the real-world application of high-performance design and construction practices.
Stephen C. Hassell, formerly Emerson’s vice president and chief information officer who now is president of the data center infrastructure management business within Emerson Network Power, was featured as a speaker at the Beyond Green Awards luncheon in Washington, D.C., today. Hosted by U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert of Illinois and U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan of Missouri, co-chairs of the High-Performance Buildings Congressional Caucus, the event served as an educational briefing for lawmakers on high-performance buildings.
“It is an honor for Emerson to be recognized with a Beyond Green honor alongside some of the nation’s most innovative structures, including a national landmark like the Empire State Building,” Hassell said. “We are proud of the integrated approach we took to design and build a more environmentally responsible and energy-efficient data center for our global operations.”
As part of the Beyond Green honor, the data center will be published as a case study in the Whole Building Design Guide, a publication managed by the National Institute of Building Sciences, and in a feature article in ED+C magazine.
Emerson invested $50 million in the Global Data Center and achieved maximum energy efficiency by implementing the latest efficient technologies, precision cooling products, and recommended efficiency strategies from its Emerson Network Power business.
Additionally, construction of the data center was completed with environmental responsibility in mind. More than 80 percent of the construction waste generated was diverted from landfills through recycling, and innovative design features enabled Emerson to save more than 2.5 miles of copper piping, minimizing the use of excess materials.
St. Louis-based Fox Architects partnered with Emerson on the design of the data center and managed the company’s application for the LEED Gold designation. Additional information about the data center is available at www.EmersonDataCenter.com.
About Emerson
Emerson (NYSE: EMR), based in St. Louis, Missouri (USA), is a global leader in bringing technology and engineering together to provide innovative solutions to customers through its network power, process management, industrial automation, climate technologies, and appliance and tools businesses. Emerson’s sales in fiscal 2009 were $20.9 billion. The company is ranked 94th on the Fortune 500 list of America’s largest companies. For more information, visit www.Emerson.com.
