BUILT TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE GOAL

Microsoft has just launched its newest data center region in Arizona, known as “West US 3”, and now available to customers for building and running their Microsoft Azure applications.

Designed to be sustainable, Microsoft collaborated with Longroad Energy on their 150-megawatt Sun Streams 2 photovoltaic (PV) solar power plant located in Maricopa County, Arizona to power the new data center facility.

As part of the company’s commitment to being carbon negative by 2030, renewable energy from Sun Streams 2, using First Solar technology, is expected to offset the energy use of the new Arizona campus with Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) from the project.

“Working with cloud providers like Microsoft enables us to be more agile as well as develop new strategic cloud services for our residents at scale, securely. With Azure, we’ve created a highly secure system to reduce trips to the DMV, enabling residents to update drivers’ licenses and complete vehicle title transfers, for example, online,” said J.R. Sloan, State of Arizona Chief Information Officer.

“We also implemented a new child safety case management system using Azure and Dynamics 365, enabling caseworkers to capture critical, time-sensitive information at the moment through a tablet and the cloud. The new Microsoft datacenter region in Arizona enables us to continue this important work with computing resources right here in our state.”

The new West US 3 datacenter region includes Azure Availability Zones, which features unique physical data center locations with independent power, network, and cooling to support additional resiliency options for applications and tolerance against datacenter failures.

As announced, Microsoft’s investment in this project has generated a one-to-one cash match from the Water Funder Initiative that will support the state in meeting its Drought Contingency Plan Commitments. This is expected to benefit the Colorado River Indian Tribes, ultimately resulting in more water in Lake Mead and more efficient water infrastructure.

The company is however, pursuing Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification, which will help conserve additional resources including energy and water, generate less waste, and support human health.