LONDON, April 21 /PRNewswire/ --

- Digital Realty Trust Survey Also Finds that Vendors Need to Articulate Green Datacentre Strategies in the Next 24 Months

Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: DLR), a leading owner and manager of corporate and Internet gateway datacentres, is reporting new research data entitled, "How Green is Green?" focused on determining the depth of the Green movement in the European datacentre market. The release of this data follows the publication of a parallel study of the North American datacentre market. This European study is based on a recent poll of senior decision makers who are leaders in datacentres or influence significant decisions related to datacentre operations at large European companies. The surveyed companies come from a wide range of industries, a quarter of which are from financial related services.

Key findings from the research study and additional data points are provided below:

-- 60 per cent of respondents have a declared green strategy. -- Firms with green strategy are largely holistic in nature and think their strategy must include both the facility as well as the equipment operating within it. -- Datacentre carbon footprints are a key area of concern: over 60 per cent of respondents include the purchase of carbon credits in their overall green strategy. -- Less than 50 per cent of respondents require vendors to have a green strategy. -- Less than 35 per cent of survey participants know of a datacentre partner with a declared green strategy. The lack of clear vendor strategies leads to leniency. -- The need for vendors to articulate a green strategy will only continue to grow in the next 13 to 24 months: over 60 per cent or respondents indicate that this need will continue to increase within the next two years.

"At the same time that we conducted this survey of European companies, we did a study of green datacentre trends in North America. There are some interesting findings that I believe have relevance to the European market. The North American survey indicates that forward momentum of green datacentre initiatives has stalled or even lost ground. The primary culprit appears to be the lack of clear industry standards for green datacentres," said Jim Smith, Vice President of Engineering at Digital Realty Trust. "European companies expressed similar concern about the lack of clear, practical industry standards, and that could be a harbinger of a similar green 'slowdown' in Europe. Companies are looking to the datacentre industry for leadership and clarity on how to define, design and operate a green datacentre. The industry must make this a key focus this year."

A number of additional findings from the research study are as follows:

-- Respondents feel that there are many potential standards bodies to choose from but there is still no clear leader. The key factor for this is that the definition of Green is not universally adopted. -- No clear definition of 'Green' exists and multiple components are currently viewed as green. At the moment survey participants feel that coalescence is required around a defined set of principles. Almost 70 per cent see efficient power usage as the 'greenest' component. -- Being "Green" will become an essential selection criteria for vendors within the next 24 months: almost 70 per cent of respondents indicated that this will be an important selection criteria in the next 24 months. -- Green Strategy is expected to grow as a requirement for vendors in the next 12 to 24 months, forcing datacentre firms to articulate and clarify their green strategies.

"Digital Realty Trust takes great pride in being an industry leader in green datacentre design and operations. We are also committed to supporting industry-wide initiatives to increase datacentre efficiency," said Jim Smith. "One of the key ways we are doing this is by sharing energy efficiency data. We are the first company in the datacentre industry to do so, in response to customers and other end-user organizations who are seeking data and benchmarks that educate them about the energy efficiency of competing facilities and about how their datacentre can support their corporate green strategy."

Smith added, "We are also supporting industry-wide green datacentre initiatives by continuing to be an active member of The Green Grid, which is doing excellent work establishing standards and best practices for datacentre energy efficiency. We will continue to be a leader in applying LEED and BREEAM specifications to our building design and operations. Although these specifications are not designed specifically for datacentres, they have tremendous value for institutional building owners like Digital Realty Trust. These specifications provide a holistic view of how buildings impact our environment and a proven methodology for minimizing that impact."

To read the results of the North American study of green datacentre trends, visit the "News" section at http://www.digitalrealtytrust.com. Digital Realty Trust will also host a Webinar about the results of these green datacentre trend studies on Monday, 21st April, 2008. The Webinar, entitled "How Green is Green?" will be conducted by Bernard Geohegan, Vice President, Europe, who will provide additional data and analysis of these trends. To register for the Webinar, visit http://www.digitalrealtytrust.com/webinar_registration.asp.

About the Methodology

Metrics reported in this study are based on Web-based surveys of IT decision makers at large corporations in five European countries: the U.K., Germany, France, the Netherlands and Ireland. Almost 100 per cent of all surveyed companies have annual revenues greater than 1 billion Euros. 69 per cent of them have 5000 or more employees worldwide and 52 per cent over 7500. All surveyed organisations are "leaders" in setting industry direction based on expense related to datacentre design and construction. Approximately 60 per cent of the respondents were Managing Directors and almost 13 per cent are "C" level executives. The survey was conducted in March 2008.

About Digital Realty Trust, Inc.

Digital Realty Trust, Inc. owns, acquires, redevelops, develops and manages technology-related real estate. The Company is focused on providing Turn-Key Datacentre(TM) and Powered Base Building(TM) datacentre solutions for domestic and international tenants across a variety of industry verticals ranging from information technology and internet enterprises, to manufacturing and financial services. Digital Realty Trust's 71 properties, excluding one property held as an investment in an unconsolidated joint venture, contain applications and operations critical to the day-to-day operations of technology industry tenants and corporate enterprise datacentre tenants. Comprising approximately 1.2 million rentable square metres (12.6 million square feet) as of April 1, 2008, including 186,000 square metres (2 million square feet) of space held for redevelopment, Digital Realty Trust's portfolio is located in 26 markets throughout Europe and North America. For additional information, please visit Digital Realty Trust's website at http://www.digitalrealtytrust.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 the growth in the need for vendors to articulate a green strategy and Digital Realty Trust's intention to continue to be a leader in applying LEED and BREEAM specifications. These risks and uncertainties include adverse economic or real estate developments in our markets or the technology industry; our dependence upon significant tenants; bankruptcy or insolvency of a major tenant; downturn of local economic conditions in our geographic markets; our inability to comply with the rules and regulations applicable to public companies or to manage our growth effectively; difficulty acquiring or operating properties in foreign jurisdictions; defaults on or non-renewal of leases by tenants; increased interest rates and operating costs; our failure to obtain necessary outside financing; restrictions on our ability to engage in certain business activities; risks related to joint venture investments; decreased rental rates or increased vacancy rates; inability to successfully develop and lease new properties and space held for redevelopment; difficulties in identifying properties to acquire and completing acquisitions; increased competition or available supply of data centre space; our failure to successfully operate acquired properties; our inability to acquire off-market property; delays or unexpected costs in development or redevelopment of properties; our failure to maintain our status as a REIT; possible adverse changes to tax laws; environmental uncertainties and risks related to natural disasters; financial market fluctuations; changes in foreign currency exchange rates; changes in foreign laws and regulations, including those related to taxation and real estate ownership and operation; and 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 United States Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, including the Company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007, and subsequent reports Form 8-K filed with the SEC. 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.

For Additional Information: A. William Stein Chief Financial Officer and Chief Investment Officer Digital Realty Trust, Inc. +1-415-738-6500 Pamela A. Matthews Investor/Analyst Information Digital Realty Trust, Inc. +1-415-738-6500 Chris Crosby Sales & Technical Operations Digital Realty Trust, Inc. +1-214-231-1350

Web site: http://www.digitalrealtytrust.com

A. William Stein, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Investment Officer, or Pamela A. Matthews, Investor-Analyst Information, both of Digital Realty Trust, Inc., +1-415-738-6500, or Chris Crosby, Sales & Technical Operations of Digital Realty Trust, Inc., +1-214-231-1350