Rack Centre first to receive 'EDGE' green building certification

Rack Centre has announced that its Lagos data center has attained an "EDGE" green building certificate, which stands for "Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies, the first in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa to receive such a certification. The facility is a carrier-neutral Tier III data center, and the sustainability developments have happened as a result of Actis acquiring the facility back in 2020, as part of a $250 million African data center platform investment.

Through being awarded the certification, the building has been recognized for its savings regarding energy and water usage throughout its expansion. According to reports, once the expansion is complete, it will have achieved 35% energy savings, with 100 tonnes of carbon emissions saved each year. Alongside this, it is forecasted that 41% of the water used will be saved, with savings of 45% in embodied energy in building materials. Moreover, the center will use a water-efficient cooling system, and low-energy air circulation while also switching from diesel to gas power generation.

Speaking about certification and core values of the company, Ezekiel Egboye, Rack Centre Chief Operations Officer, commented: "At Rack Centre, we have had a track record of setting the standard for Power Usage Efficiency in the region. Sustainability is at the core of what we do and a quest that permeates through all of our actions. We are delighted to be the first to be certified in Europe, Middle East, and Africa. Another first in the region, Rack Centre was the first carrier-neutral colocation provider in Africa to be Tier III Constructed Facility Certified, and has grown the most comprehensive interconnection and limitless peering ecosystem of over 40 carriers and ISPs, also bringing about interconnect efficiencies."

"Meeting Africa's ever-growing demand for critical digital infrastructure must be achieved as sustainably as possible," added Kabir Chal, Director of Actis' Africa Real Estate team. "We plan to implement similar improvements across future investments made by our pan-African data center platform to help the continent secure a low carbon data revolution."

"It has been a hugely rewarding process to work in partnership with Actis to develop this EDGE assessment tool for data centers," said Vivek Pathak, Director for Climate Business Department at the IFC. "We hope other data center operators will follow in Rack Centre's footsteps and take the necessary action on the digital economies environmental impact by becoming IFC EDGE certified."