BLACKIRON Data Renews Commitment to Environmental Responsibility
BLACKIRON Data, a wholly owned subsidiary of Rogers Communications Inc., (TSX: RCI.A and RCI.B) (NYSE: RCI), is marking Earth Day with a commitment to environmental responsibility by hosting a series of eWaste collection events and celebrating the recent LEED® certification of its Toronto DC3 data centre.
“At BLACKIRON we recognize that data centres can be taxing on the environment,” says Jennifer Bell, Director of Marketing, BLACKIRON Data. “We are constantly identifying ways to offset or reduce the environmental impact of our facilities across Canada while also helping our customers achieve their own eco-friendly objectives.”
On April 23 and 24, BLACKIRON has partnered with Artex Environmental to provide eWaste collections at four of its data centres across the country. Customers and employees are invited to drop-off retired and obsolete electronic waste, from servers to cell phones and everything in between, at BLACKIRON’s Toronto DC3 (Markham), London, Ottawa and Edmonton facilities.
“What company doesn’t have a pile of outdated equipment hiding somewhere?” states Bell. “Our eWaste collection drives make it simple for our customers and employees to do a little spring cleaning while ensuring that their eWaste will be disposed of in a safe, secure and responsible manner.”
In 2012, the BLACKIRON collection events diverted more than 30,000 tonnes of eWaste from landfills and developing countries.
In March 2013, BLACKIRON’s Toronto DC3 facility was awarded LEED® Silver certification by the Canadian Green Building Council (CaGBC).
From concept to construction, BLACKIRON considered how to make the Toronto DC3 facility environmentally responsible at every touch point. Construction waste materials were diverted from landfills, cutting-edge cooling technology has eliminated millions of litres of water waste and the facility was designed to reduce energy consumption by at least 10%. Employees and customers also enjoy green initiatives such as bike lockers and showers, priority parking for car pooling and electric car charging stations.
“When we set out to build Toronto DC3 we tasked the team with LEED® certification; they went above and beyond to achieve LEED® Silver certification,” continues Bell. “The result is an environmentally responsible facility that has eliminated as much as 100 million litres of water and is energy efficient in addition to being Canada’s first Tier III design and construction certified data centre. Toronto DC3 is truly the crown jewel of our commitment to the environment.”
BLACKIRON is employing the best practices learned during the build of Toronto DC3 where applicable at the company’s other facilities. “Chiller killer” cooling technologies used in the new facility are now being deployed at BLACKIRON’s data centre in Edmonton.
BLACKIRON Data is an innovator in data centre, cloud and managed services technology, providing a singular focus to ensuring the most robust and bullet-proof IT infrastructure to meet the needs of business. With eight owned and managed state-of-the-art, and highly reliable data centres, including Canada’s first Tier III design and construction certified facility, and the vast array of fully audited operational, facility, and environmental certifications, BLACKIRON Data is the most certified data centre services company in Canada. BLACKIRON Data is a wholly owned subsidiary of Rogers Communications Inc. Visit blackirondata.com for more information.
