Microsoft Data Center Security, Mountain View

Microsoft’s new silicon valley campus sits on a 32-acre site and is the first tech company campus designed to achieve net-zero non-potable water certification.

While Silicon Valley is recognized as being home to a great portion of the US tech industry, the Valley is not known as a region with bountiful water. To address the environmental needs of the region, Microsoft sought a building that would not amplify the overuse of potable water.

Rather than adhering to the traditional design and construction process, Microsoft’s Mountain View campus reverse-engineered the design and build phases to create a campus that encompassed the innovative nature of the region.

The new campus takes into account three main sustainability factors: Energy, Habitat, and Water. While the campus achieves net zero non-potable water certification, the campus similarly takes into account the needs of the employees inhabiting the space. Such considerations include continual access to fresh air and natural light from inside the buildings and a lively outdoor space furnished with native plants, trees shading the property, and wetlands. Sandis provided Microsoft with civil engineering and survey services.