Rare Opens New Sustainable Building, Barn X - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 01 May 2024 / 2,154 Views
Xbox Game Studio developer Rare announced it has opened a new sustainable building called Barn X.
Barn X runs purely on electricity and is Xbox’s first mass timber building in Europe, which is designed to lock in carbon over the decades, creating a much lower carbon footprint than materials such as concrete or steel.
The new building "uses condensate water from chillers to help flush its toilets, saving on water usage and repurposing water which otherwise would have gone to waste. Its pitched roof also houses advanced cooling and ventilation services."
Rare also now has 750 square meters of solar panels in a nearby field to offset of some of the studio's energy consumption.
"We asked ourselves, 'What might the gaming studio of the future look like?'" said Rare Studio Head Craig Duncan.
Director of Sustainability and Research at RKD Sean Hogan added, "Whereas if you source locally, a softer wood such as birch or larch, it will need a sealer because it’s a softer material. And It will probably need switching out within 15 years, too, potentially three times over the service life of the building."
Barn X is part of Microsoft's commitment to become carbon negative, water positive, and zero waste by 2030.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.