Digital Edge Becomes First in Southeast Asia to Achieve Globally Recognised Certifications

 

Digital Edge (Singapore) Holdings Pte. Ltd. has announced that its NARRA1 data centre in Manila, which opened in early 2023, has become the first facility in Southeast Asia to secure two globally recognised industry certifications: ANSI/TIA-942-C certification for resilience, security and quality and EDGE certification for green buildings.

These accreditations further demonstrate Digital Edge’s position as one of the leading data centre providers in the market and reinforce Manila’s standing as an important future hub for the region’s digital infrastructure sector.

Digital Edge Makes History with ANSI/TIA-942 Certification

Against this backdrop, Digital Edge was awarded the ANSI/TIA-942 certification, recognised as an industry gold standard in terms of data centre resiliency. To achieve certification, a data centre must meet minimum standards covering all aspects of the physical infrastructure within the facility, including but not limited to, site location, electrical, mechanical, telecommunications, fire safety, and security. The certification was awarded to Digital Edge by EPI Certification Pte Ltd (EPI), the leading ISO-17021 accredited TIA-942 Certification Body.

In May this year, the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) issued a revised version of this certification known as ANSI/TIA-942-‘C’, with Digital Edge becoming the first in Asia to achieve certification under the enhanced standard.

Digital Edge received a Rating 3 out of 4 levels, with 4 being the highest. Rating-3, defined as a concurrent maintainable data centre, means the facility has multiple redundant capacity components and distribution paths, allowing each and every component to be removed, replaced, or serviced without disrupting the operations, thereby supporting 24×7 availability.

Getting an EDGE with Digital Edge

In addition, Digital Edge has become the first data centre in Southeast Asia to achieve EDGE (Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies) certification, a standard developed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group. EDGE certification focuses on resource efficiency and is awarded to buildings that demonstrate 20% or more savings energy use, water use, and embodied carbon in materials.

NARRA1 was recognised for its resource efficient design including its innovative liquid cooling system which has enabled it to achieve a market-leading design Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of 1.193, as well as numerous energy-conserving features such as a 57% reduction in lighting power density. This follows Digital Edge’s achievement last year when it became the first data centre in the country to receive LEED Gold certification, another internationally recognized green building standard determined by the U.S. Green Building Council.

The Philippines’ Booming Data Centre Landscape

Fuelled by the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications, the Philippines data centre colocation market is growing rapidly with the latest estimates predicting a five-year CAGR of 36% through 2028[1], while investment from the global cloud and hyperscale customers is expected to increase at an even greater rate of 61% CAGR1 during the same period. Industry certifications supporting the adoption of international quality and sustainability standards are expected to become increasingly important as the Philippines looks to attract more leading technology companies to its data center market.

Commenting on the certifications Vic Barrios, Country Manager for Digital Edge in the Philippines said, “We are proud to contribute to the Philippines standing as a credible player within Southeast Asia’s digital infrastructure landscape. We believe these best-in-class certifications support our country’s ability to attract the world’s leading cloud and technology companies, as Digital Edge continues to further enhance the Philippines’ thriving digital economy.”

Edward van Leent, Chairman and CEO of the EPI Group of Companies, shared. “The ANSI/TIA-942 is the leading standard for data centre design and build. The latest release, version C (ANSI/TIA-942-C), introduces significant enhancements in best practices in data centre design.  It mirrors the rapid advancements within the industry, thus ensuring data centres deliver improved performance and robustness in line with the evolving needs of the ICT sector. We commend Digital Edge for their foresight, speed , and leadership in becoming the first data centre to achieve the TIA-942-C constructed facility certification in Asia.”

Raymond Rufino, Principal for Investments and Real Estate of the Threadborne Group, Digital Edge’s joint partner on the NARRA1 project, remarked, “Since day one of this partnership, we have sought to uphold the highest standards, from our impeccable construction safety record to the highly energy efficient design of our facility to maintaining 100% uptime across our operations. Securing these internationally recognised accreditations is further proof of our commitment to bring world-class infrastructure to the Philippines, and we hope our achievements will serve to raise the bar for this dynamic and fast-growing industry across the country.”