Digital Realty Publishes Inaugural ESG Report

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Jun 20, 2019, 06:30 ET

SAN FRANCISCO, June 20, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Digital Realty (NYSE: DLR), a leading global provider of data center, colocation and interconnection solutions, published its inaugural Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Report, covering the company's ESG performance for 2018, as well as a comprehensive overview of its clean energy commitment, resource conservation and other sustainable business practices.

"The initiatives highlighted in this report demonstrate Digital Realty's commitment to being a good corporate citizen while driving value for our customers, employees, shareholders and communities," said Digital Realty Chief Executive Officer A. William Stein. "As a leader in the data center industry, we recognize the importance of balancing our business goals and the impact we have on people, places and society at large. While we are proud of our progress, we will continue to strive for and invest in excellence across our environmental, social and governance initiatives to ensure a positive impact today and beyond."

2018 ESG Report Highlights

Clean energy: Digital Realty sourced renewable energy to meet 30% of its global electricity needs in 2018, totaling over 1.9 million megawatt-hours, equivalent to the annual electricity needs of 234,000 U.S. households, reflecting steady progress towards the company's goal of sourcing 100% renewable energy. Digital Realty added 104 megawatts of new renewable energy supply in 2018, in addition to the 184 megawatts previously contracted, and generated 428,470 megawatt-hours of clean power from utility-scale wind and solar projects, sufficient to power 52,800 homes for a year. Many data center customers have adopted strict renewable energy requirements, and Digital Realty is committed to providing energy solutions to meet their needs. The company's current renewable energy procurement program includes:

100% renewable energy for all EMEA properties
100% wind power for the U.S. colocation business
288 megawatts of solar and wind power under contract
100% carbon-free and renewable energy for two Northern California data centers

Resource conservation: Digital Realty continues to fund and explore initiatives to use resources responsibly, including the electricity used to power data centers and the water used to cool them.

Energy: In 2018, Digital Realty completed over 40 energy-efficient projects, expected to save 19,100 megawatt-hours per year, enough to power 2,400 homes. Digital Realty also received U.S. EPA ENERGY STAR recognition for 24 properties in the U.S., or 35% of its U.S. portfolio. Digital Realty's ENERGY STAR properties perform more efficiently than 87% of U.S. data centers based on the EPA industry benchmark. Compared to the industry average, these data centers save 720,000 megawatt-hours annually, enough to power 80,000 U.S. homes and prevent 535,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions per year.
Water: Digital Realty used reclaimed water to meet 35% of its water needs in 2018 and reduced overall water-usage intensity by 9% year-over-year through the pioneering usage of non-water-based cooling systems. By using water-free cooling systems, Digital Realty is avoiding the use of one billion gallons of water annually, enough to meet the needs of 20,500 homes per year. Since 2013, the company has deployed more than 344 megawatts of non-water-based cooling systems across its global portfolio.

Sustainable buildings: As an owner and operator of over 210 properties worldwide, Digital Realty recognizes the importance of green building practices. From 2007 to 2018, the company completed 60 sustainable building certifications, encompassing 23% of its global portfolio, in accordance with LEED, BREEAM and other green building rating systems. In 2018, Digital Realty achieved certifications for four projects totaling more than one million square feet.
Resiliency: Digital Realty has compiled a strong track record of reliability and resilience to operational, security, weather and climate change-related events. Digital Realty delivered "five nines" of uptime for the 12^th consecutive year in 2018, exceeding 99.999% availability for the company's owned and operated data center portfolio. This track record of operational excellence is supported by regular risk assessments, physical and cyber-security safeguards, training and supply chain preparedness. In addition, Digital Realty launched a Global Operations Command Center in October 2018 to provide 24/7/365 communication, centralized network monitoring, product support, event management, infrastructure monitoring and security on customers' behalf.
Strong governance and employee engagement: The 2018 ESG report highlights Digital Realty's commitment to diversity, global employee engagement and strong governance practices. In 2018, Digital Realty launched the Women's Leadership Forum and the Do Better Together program to strengthen engagement with employees and local communities. Finally, Digital Realty's Board of Directors approved changes to shareholder rights in 2018, providing shareholders the ability to propose binding amendments to the company's bylaws.

About Digital Realty
Digital Realty supports the data center, colocation and interconnection strategies of more than 2,000 firms across its secure, network-rich portfolio of data centers located throughout North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia and Australia. Digital Realty's clients include domestic and international companies of all sizes, ranging from cloud and information technology services, communications and social networking to financial services, manufacturing, energy, healthcare, and consumer products. www.digitalrealty.com

For Additional Information
Andrew P. Power
Chief Financial Officer
Digital Realty
(415) 738-6500

Investor Relations
John J. Stewart
Digital Realty
(415) 738-6500
[email protected]

Media Inquiries
John Christiansen / Scott Lindlaw
Sard Verbinnen & Co.
(415) 618-8750

Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements which are based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially, including statements related to our ESG report and our sustainability program. These risks and uncertainties include, among others, the following: reduced demand for data centers or decreases in information technology spending; decreased rental rates, increased operating costs or increased vacancy rates; increased competition or available supply of data center space; the suitability of our data centers and data center infrastructure, delays or disruptions in connectivity or availability of power, or failures or breaches of our physical and information security infrastructure or services; our dependence upon significant customers, bankruptcy or insolvency of a major customer or a significant number of smaller customers, or defaults on or non-renewal of leases by customers; breaches of our obligations or restrictions under our contracts with our customers; our inability to successfully develop and lease new properties and development space, and delays or unexpected costs in development of properties; the impact of current global and local economic, credit and market conditions; our inability to retain data center space that we lease or sublease from third parties; difficulties managing an international business and acquiring or operating properties in foreign jurisdictions and unfamiliar metropolitan areas; our failure to realize the intended benefits from, or disruptions to our plans and operations or unknown or contingent liabilities related to, our recent acquisitions; our failure to successfully integrate and operate acquired or developed properties or businesses; difficulties in identifying properties to acquire and completing acquisitions; risks related to joint venture investments, including as a result of our lack of control of such investments; risks associated with using debt to fund our business activities, including re-financing and interest rate risks, our failure to repay debt when due, adverse changes in our credit ratings or our breach of covenants or other terms contained in our loan facilities and agreements; our failure to obtain necessary debt and equity financing, and our dependence on external sources of capital; financial market fluctuations and changes in foreign currency exchange rates; adverse economic or real estate developments in our industry or the industry sectors that we sell to, including risks relating to decreasing real estate valuations and impairment charges and goodwill and other intangible asset impairment charges; our inability to manage our growth effectively; losses in excess of our insurance coverage; environmental liabilities and risks related to natural disasters; our inability to comply with rules and regulations applicable to our Company; our failure to maintain our status as a REIT for federal income tax purposes; our operating partnership's failure to qualify as a partnership for federal income tax purposes; restrictions on our ability to engage in certain business activities; and changes in local, state, federal and international laws and regulations, including related to taxation, real estate and zoning laws, and increases in real property tax rates. For a further list and description of such risks and uncertainties, see the reports and other filings by the company with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2019. The company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE Digital Realty