Contacts

For More Information About Tech Vault Inc.:
Rene DeLaricheliere, 802-862-1197, ext 113
VP Marketing
rdelaricheliere@techvault.net
www.techvault.net
or
For Media Inquiries:
Susan Allen, 802-279-8493
Special Assistant to the Governor
Susan.Allen@state.vt.us
www.vermont.gov

Tech Vault will be presenting their case study at the Gartner Data Center Conference in Las Vegas on December 5th.  The presentation will part of the Solution Provider Sessions and will showcase the collaborative effort put forth to design and build the regions first LEED Certified data center.  Tech Vault’s solution to fulfilling a longstanding need for a high-availability commercial data center in Vermont has been realized. Tech Vault sought to capture this opportunity while balancing the appropriate level of investment, redundancy, efficiency, security, and capacity while not compromising their Green IT ideals. They engaged Schneider Electric & APC to assist them in guiding the development of their vision. Collectively, they achieved the goal to develop the first LEED certified data center in the region.

Tech Vault is proud to be a supporter and conference underwriter for the 2011 Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility Fall conference.  The theme of this year’s conference is “Resiliency in Uncertain Times: SR Businesses Working Collaboratively”.  The conference will be held at The Grand Summit at Mount Snow in West Dover, VT from 7:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. on November 16th.  We look forward to seeing you there!

Tech Vault is proud to be a community sponsor of the Vermont Green Summit on November 9th at Vermont Technical College. The Summit also includes an EXPO open to the public from 10:30-3:30. Stop by and visit us at our booth at the EXPO, and learn about GREEN business in the State of Vermont.

IDG’s Computerworld Honors Program, honoring visionary applications of information technology promoting positive social, economic and educational change, has selected 263 Laureates for 2011, among them Tech Vault has been selected in the category of Environment. These individuals will be commemorated during the 23rd Annual Laureates Medal Ceremony & Gala Awards Evening on June 20, 2011 at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C.

For over two decades, The Computerworld Honors Program has recognized individuals and organizations who create and use information technology to promote and advance public welfare, contribute to the greater good of society and change the world for the better. The world’s foremost information technology companies Chairmen and CEOs support this program through their participation on the Chairmen’s Committee. To broaden the scope of the program, while maintaining the tradition and prestige of the recognition, the Chairmen’s Committee Advisors expanded the call for nominations and updated award categories focusing on the humanitarian theme which is core to the Program.

January 6, 2011
Article Posted on www.ZDNET.com Blog – By Heather Clancy

I read recently that there are now more than 1 billion square feet of buildings and facilities that are certified under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. One of the toughest certifications to earn, as you might expect, is the designation for data centers. What does it take? Consider the example of Tech Vault, which is seeking a Gold-level certification for its facility in Burlington, Vermont.

LEED Gold requires 60 or more points in the following areas of green design: sustainable site selection, water efficiency metrics, energy and atmosphere conditions, materials and resources used, and the indoor environmental quality. The LEED rating scale is 100 points, plus 10 possible bonus points for “innovation in design and regional priority.”

The facility in question, which encompasses 500 kilowatts of capacity for each phase of the buildout, is meant for commercial hosting. Some of the initial clients include hospitals and healthcare providers (the facility is compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, aka HIPAA, requirements), software companies that are offering their applications as a service and even some bonafide sustainable businesses, such as a very high-profile green cleaning products manufacturer that I don’t think I’m supposed to mention by name. Other relevant metrics from a data center management point of view: the facility is served with Internet bandwidth from two tier-1 carriers (it is a node on each carrier’s regional SONET ring). The network infrastructure includes hardware from Cisco.

As you might expect, Tech Vault takes advantage of its environment to design for efficiency. For example, airside cooling is used whenever possible, which cuts down on its use of electricity for cooling. Lighting is automated with motion sensors, so they’re only on when necessary. Its philosophy: “Heat only what you need to heat, cool only what you need to cool, and light only what you need to light.”

Bob Stewart, vice president of IT for Tech Vault, says one of the biggest factors when planning for the LEED Gold certification was the company’s choice of technologies for power management and rack design. For that, Tech Vault turned to Schneider Electric’s APC portfolio of solutions, including In-Row cooling, Symmetra uninterruptible power supplies (UPSes) and InRow Remote Power Modules. “It is cheaper to save electricity than it is to go out and buy new stuff,” Stewart says. “We would never have been able to do this without the efficiencies that we could get through this technology.”

Stewart also notes in a press release describing the project:

“The facility soup-to-nut is a Schneider Electric house, and we are really happy about that. After a year of planning and design collaboration with the Schneider Electric team, we began construction on the facility. Within four months, we completed the full installation, enabling us to open on time and in large part because of their energy-efficient solutions, we hope to join a small and distinguished group of LEED certified data centers in the United States.”

When I spoke with him on the phone about the solution, Stewart said a key benefit of going with the Schneider solution was his team’s ability to monitor everything from a centralized panel.

Mike Murray, marketing manager for the data center solutions team with Schneider Electric, estimates that close to 80 percent of the points that companies need to earn for LEED are associated with the lighting and electrical systems in a building, which makes it important for data center operators to take a holistic view of energy efficiency projects. The company’s InfraStruxure approach allows facilities managers to build out the requisite modules for energy efficiency as a data center scales over time, he says. That way, the investment doesn’t have to be made all at once.

Tech Vault, Inc. held it’s open house on Wednesday, September 15, 2010.  Over 125 people attended the event, had in depth tours of the facility and enjoyed networking.  Governor Douglas addressed

the crowd, praising Tech Vault for their vision and working towards reaching Gold LEED certification for their center.  Tech Vault, Inc. is the first commercially available, carrier neutral facility in the State of Vermont and will be a huge asset to the State’s infrastructure.

Ribbon Cutting

APC In row cooling racks

Tech Vault, Inc. will hold an open house on September 15, 2010.  The event starts at 5:00 p.m. with a ribbon cutting and will end at 7:00 p.m.  Join us to see this amazing facility, meet our partners and learn more about what we have to offer and enjoy great food and beverages.  If you would like to attend this event, take a private tour or have more questions please email Susan Fayette at sfayette@techvault.net or register now!

Things have been busy at Tech Vault, Inc. over the past month. With the addition of our generator, cooling towers, and equipment racks the center is really coming together! We are excited to be planning an open house for September 15th for folks to come and see the center and and get an up close and personal view of what this type of facility will do to help Vermont businesses reduce their energy cost while providing a safe and secure environment for their data. If you are interested in a tour or attending our open house please give us a call! (802) 862-5364 or email Susan at sfayette@techvault.net.