Digital Realty's Clean Start(SM) Program Equips Clients With Free Access To Green Energy

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 21, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Digital Realty Trust, Inc. DLR, a leading global provider of data center and colocation solutions, announced the industry's first program to provide clients with access to clean energy. Under the new Clean Start℠ Program, which is available across its international portfolio, Digital Realty clients that sign a qualifying new lease will automatically receive renewable energy certificates commensurate with the electricity consumed during the first year of the lease. This sustainability initiative comes as part of a broader effort by Digital Realty to encourage greener practices in the data center industry, with a range of new programs to be introduced in 2015 to report on and reduce environmental impacts.

"The Clean Start Program will redefine the way the data center industry approaches sustainable energy," said Aaron Binkley, director of sustainability at Digital Realty. "Our goal is to give clients an effortless path to procure clean, renewable energy for their data centers, and to take a leadership role in reducing the environmental footprint for the data center industry."

This global program, in which Digital Realty will procure renewable energy certificates (RECs) on behalf of its clients for one year at no additional cost to clients, is available to clients who sign qualified leases with a term of at least 12 months for space in any Digital Realty location on or after January 21, 2015. After the first year of the lease term, clients can choose to pay to continue receiving clean energy credits through the program, or opt out. RECs will be sourced near data center sites wherever feasible.

Mr. Binkley continued, "Our clients want cost-effective access to clean energy, without the heavy lifting. With the Clean Start℠ Program, all clients signing eligible leases will be auto-enrolled in the program and will receive access to renewable energy certificates – for clean power generated by wind, solar, geothermal, or biomass power plants – without any incremental cost. We've eliminated the obstacles for our clients to make smarter decisions about energy consumption in the data center, which we expect will result in greater adoption of more sustainable practices."

For more information about the Clean Start℠ Program, including a Q&A, visit www.digitalrealty.com.

About Digital Realty

Digital Realty Trust, Inc. supports the data center and colocation strategies of more than 600 firms across its secure, network-rich portfolio of data centers located throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Digital Realty's clients include domestic and international companies of all sizes, ranging from financial services, cloud and information technology services, to manufacturing, energy, gaming, life sciences and consumer products. For more information about data center solutions from Digital Realty, visit www.digitalrealty.com. Follow us on Twitter at @digitalrealty and on our blog at https://blog.digitalrealty.com/.

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 Digital Realty's Clean Start℠ Program and its impact on the data center industry, our broader sustainability program and sustainability programs expected to be introduced in 2015. These risks and uncertainties include, among others, the following: the impact of current global economic, credit and market conditions; current local economic conditions in our geographic markets; decreases in information technology spending, including as a result of economic slowdowns or recession; 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); our dependence upon significant tenants; bankruptcy or insolvency of a major tenant or a significant number of smaller tenants; defaults on or non-renewal of leases by tenants; our failure to obtain necessary debt and equity financing; 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; financial market fluctuations; changes in foreign currency exchange rates; our inability to manage our growth effectively; difficulty acquiring or operating properties in foreign jurisdictions; our failure to successfully integrate and operate acquired or developed properties or businesses; the suitability of our properties and data center infrastructure, delays or disruptions in connectivity, failure of our physical infrastructure or services or availability of power; risks related to joint venture investments, including as a result of our lack of control of such investments; delays or unexpected costs in development of properties; decreased rental rates, increased operating costs or increased vacancy rates; increased competition or available supply of data center space; our inability to successfully develop and lease new properties and development space; difficulties in identifying properties to acquire and completing acquisitions; our inability to acquire off-market properties; our inability to comply with the rules and regulations applicable to reporting companies; our failure to maintain our status as a REIT; possible adverse changes to tax laws; restrictions on our ability to engage in certain business activities; environmental uncertainties and risks related to natural disasters; losses in excess of our insurance coverage; changes in foreign laws and regulations, including those related to taxation and real estate ownership and operation; and changes in local, state and federal regulatory requirements, including changes in 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, as amended, for the year ended December 31, 2013 and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2014, June 30, 2014 and September 30, 2014.  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.

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SOURCE Digital Realty Trust, Inc.