The Two Most Valuable Data Center Certifications You Should Get Right Now

In recent years, competition in the Chinese data center market has become increasingly fierce. More and more operators are building data centers overseas in search of new business opportunities.

To successfully enter overseas markets, obtaining prestigious certifications from globally recognized institutes is one of the most important steps you need to take.

Uptime Institute's certifications and U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC)'s LEED certifications are undoubtedly the GOLD STANDARDS for data center performance and sustainability respectively. For data center owners and operators to gain trust from their clients, these two certifications are indispensable.

As early as 2013, Banyano signed a strategic partnership agreement with Uptime Institute to promote Uptime's certifications in China, and in 2018, USGBC and a group of Chinese industry experts established the LEED Data Center Advisory (China) Committee, appointing Banyano's chairman Danny Cheng as its secretary-general. Over the past decade, we have maintained close cooperation with the two institutes and continuously helped our clients to successfully obtain their desired certifications.

In 2017, Lee Kirby, then President of Uptime Institute, and Sarah Alexander, Vice President of USGBC, came to Beijing to attend the China Data Center Facility Forum conference organized by Banyano.

Uptime's certifications are the world's most trusted and adopted certifications for the design, construction and operations of data centers, especially known for their rigor and comprehensiveness. According to Uptime Institute's website, Uptime has issued more than 3,400 awards in more than 114 countries around the globe.

Uptime's certifications can be divided into the Tier Certification and the M&O Stamp of Approval. The Tier Certification includes TCDD (Tier Certification of Design Documents), TCCF (Tier Certification of Constructed Facility), and TCOS (Tier Certification of Operational Sustainability). It certifies your site to one of four Tier Classifications, ranging from Tier I through Tier IV.

• TCDD：review your design documents and provide consulting support to guide a final design compliant with your desired Tier rating
• TCCF：ensure your facility is built to its intended performance capacity, effectiveness, and reliability
• TCOS：assure that a well designed and constructed data center facility is also being operated in a manner that will result in the production levels expected
• M&O Stamp of Approval：tailor your data center operations program to ensure you have the process, procedures, and resources needed to keep downtime to a minimum

• Uptime Institute's decade-long strategic partner

• Has many technical experts trained and certified by Uptime as Accredited Tier Designers (ATD) and Accredited Tier Specialists (ATS)

• One of the few companies in China having TCDD, TCCF and M&O Stamp of Approval certification consulting and coaching cases

• In 2014, helped Baidu M1 data center become the first data center in China and the second in North Asia to obtain the M&O Stamp of Approval

• In 2017, sent a team to Africa to help Botswana Telecommunications Company Limited (BTC)'s data center obtain Tier II certification in Design Documents and Constructed Facility, making it the first data center in Botswana and one of the first in Africa to obtain a Uptime certification

• Coached 30+ Uptime certification projects, with over 60% of certification projects in Design Documents achieving the highest rating of Tier IV

Qian Wang, Banyano's Vice President and General Manager of COE, conducted commissioning and Uptime certification consultation in Botswana's BTC data center.

The LEED certification, backed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), is the most widely used and influential green building certification in the world. Achieving a LEED certification means that the project has met stringent environment and energy management system standards. According to USGBC's website, as of March 2024, there are more than 1,400 LEED-certified and registered data centers worldwide, accomodating more than 41 million square meters of floor space.

The LEED certification consists of six systems for all building types, of which LEED BD+C (Building Design and Construction), LEED ID+C (Interior Design and Construction), and LEED O+M (Building Operations and Maintenance) are the three systems most used for data centers. There are four rating levels: Certified, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. All newly built data centers overseas aim at least for a LEED Silver certification.

• Location and Transportation

• Sustainable Sites

• Water Efficiency

• Energy and Atmosphere

• Materials and Resources

• Indoor Environmental Quality

• Innovation, etc.

• USGBC's LEED data center certification strategic partner

• Danny Cheng, Chairman of Banyano, has served as the secretary-general of the LEED Data Center Advisory (China) Committee since 2018.

• Helped Tencent's Tianjin Binhai Data Center Building 4 achieve LEED v4 O+M:DC Platinum certification, making it the first data center in North Asia and China to achieve a LEED Platinum certification

• Helped Delta Wujiang Data Center achieve LEED v4 ID+C: CI Gold certification, making it the first data center in the world to achieve this award

Danny Cheng, Chairman of Banyano, Andy To, Managing Director of LEED North Asia, and Li Xiao, Director of Tencent's Data Center Operations and Services, attended Tencent's LEED certification awards ceremony.

You may go faster by yourself, but you can go further if we go together. We look forward to helping you expand your business overseas with our international experience and high-quality professional services.