American colocation specialist Fortrust Data Centers has obtained a Tier III Gold certificate in Operational Sustainability for its latest facility in Denver, Colorado.

This is the fifth data center in the US to achieve Gold level certification, and one of just 16 globally.

“Uptime Institute congratulates Fortrust on achieving the world-class distinction of Tier III Gold,” said Lee Kirby, president of Uptime Institute. “Building to a design and certifying the build provides a high level of confidence to Fortrust’s client base, team members and partners.”

Going for gold

Fortrust certificate
Fortrust certificate – Uptime Institute

Fortrust runs the largest colocation campus in the Denver area, offering more than 300,000 square feet of data center capacity. It also maintains presence in Phoenix, Arizona and Edison, New Jersey.

The company has just certified its Phase 7 facility in Denver with the Uptime Institute. The data center blueprint previously received Design Documents certification and the building underwent Constructed Facility certification – both are prerequisite to the Operational Sustainability rating.

The Operational Sustainability standard looks at location and physical aspects of the data center, and the way it’s managed on a day-to-day basis. It also evaluates the level of redundancy and risk mitigation for natural or man-made disasters.

Certification is scored on a points system, with participants awarded Bronze, Silver or Gold based on performance of their facility. Fortrust is the only data center provider in Colorado to achieve Tier III Gold in Operational Sustainability.

“A data center’s reliability is a product of its infrastructure, management & operations, risk mitigation and the personnel who operate it,” said Robert McClary, executive vice president and general manager at Fortrust.

“We appreciate the highly collaborative engagement between our team and the team of professionals at Uptime Institute. The process was extremely valuable for our ongoing management & operations and validated the operational strategies FORTRUST has had in place for many years.”