Buffalo Niagara Launches Data Center Video

Featuring the Yahoo! facility in Lockport, NY, the newest business attraction video being premiered by Buffalo Niagara Enterprise (BNE) focuses on why the Buffalo Niagara region is conducive to data centers.

(Gawkwire) - The newest business attraction video being premiered by Buffalo Niagara Enterprise (BNE) focuses on why the Buffalo Niagara region is conducive to data centers.

The video features an interview with Paul Bonaro, Facilities Manager for the Yahoo! data center located in Lockport.

In the video, which is part of the BNE’s “A Million Reasons to Expand Your Business to Buffalo Niagara” marketing campaign, Bonaro discusses Yahoo’s reasons for locating its one-of-a-kind facility in Buffalo Niagara.

“Yahoo said we’re going to use the air, and only the outside air, to cool the computers. That’s a radical concept in this industry on this scale,” Bonaro explains. Yahoo studied the region’s climate history and determined that their ambient air parameters could be met.

The computers housed inside Yahoo’s 200,000 square-foot data center are cooled by outside air flowing into the facility through intake louvers. Heat generated by the computers then rises to the top of the center and out through louvers in the roof. The process is very energy and cost efficient, Bonaro says.

Another key factor in Yahoo’s decision to locate in Lockport was the close proximity of ample, affordable hydropower in nearby Niagara Falls.

“When sustainability goals match up with business goals, that’s an easy decision for any company,” Bonaro says. He adds that people come from all over the world to view the data center, which has received awards for sustainability from the Department of Energy and other organizations.

Lorrie Abounader, BNE’s Business Development Manager for the data center industry sector, says the Yahoo! facility is a shining example of everything the region has to offer companies looking for a data center site.

“Our cool climate and access to green, clean hydropower are the primary incentives,” Abounader says. “Add to that our educated workforce, shovel-ready sites, personal property statutory exemption, property tax abatement and more.”

Buffalo Niagara Enterprise, a private, non-profit, marketing, business and economic development organization, is the point of contact for business attraction and investment in the eight counties of the Buffalo Niagara region. Working with local economic development groups, real estate & development professionals, governmental agencies, utilities and private sector business leaders, BNE assists businesses seeking to re-locate or expand in our region with access to the various incentives, financing, site selection and other services relevant to their project. For information on doing business in Buffalo Niagara, visit http://www.buffaloniagara.org.