ACT's Data Center First in Nation for Sustainability

First LEED Platinum certified building in Iowa

ACT's new data center has been awarded LEED Platinum-level certification by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The company is an educational assessment not-for-profit located in Iowa City.  The building is the first publicly announced LEED Platinum certified data center in the nation and is the first LEED Platinum certified building of any type in Iowa. Platinum is the highest level of LEED certification.

LEED is the USGBC's leading rating system for designing and constructing the world's greenest, most energy efficient, and highest performing buildings. ACT considers the use of LEED sustainable design guidelines for this project to be an extension and demonstration of its commitment to conscientious citizenship.

"ACT's board of directors supported the LEED design approach and challenged ACT staff to achieve a gold or platinum certification," Dick Ferguson, ACT's CEO, stated in a press release. "Given that a data center had not previously achieved a gold or platinum level, this was a lofty goal."

Computer-based technology is critical to ACT's mission and success. The data center infrastructure needed to be secure and reliable enough to withstand a natural disaster and flexible enough to allow for future growth.

"Sustainability was the name of the game for this project, both environmental sustainable design and the ability of the data center to sustain a disaster. The most gratifying aspect of the project is that none of the sustainable design strategies diminish the building's ability to perform its primary functions," Tom Struve, ACT's assistant vice president of central services, stated in a press release.

LEED certification is based on a number of green design and construction features that positively impact the project itself and the broader community. These features include sustainable site, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, innovation and design.