How One Major Telco is Leading the Way to More Environmentally-Friendly Networking - By Paula Bernier

Views and Opinions on Green IT (Mar 9 2010)

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   Verizon took a leadership position in the green data center and general networking sapce when it enacted on Jan. 1, 2009, the requirement that all the products it would buy from then on had to reduce their power needs by 20 percent.

    As of the end of 2009, that has yielded Verizon nearly $2 million in energy savings, reports Chuck Graff, who is a director in corporate networking technology for the company.

    “All of the savings we have are cumulative over the first year and the second year and the third year, so as long as we keep it in the network we will continue to save energy as well as CO2,” Graff adds.

    Now Verizon is taking that a step further and implementing a thermal management program. This effort asks vendors to use a 3D CAD process during product development to look at airflow, hotspots and other areas they might consider in designing new gear. Verizon will use that data to assist its vendors in analyzing gear and and hopes to offer suggestions on what steps might be taken to produce equipment that generates less heat.

    Additionally, Verizon is trying out alternative energy. Its Long Island deployment of fuel cell technology at one of its equipment sites earned Verizon the federal government’s Energy Star Award. The sites employs seven fuel cells, each of which is capable of generating 200 kilowatts of electrical power per hour.

    The company also has more than 20 solar powered cell sites in the western United States, and in Hillsborough County, Fla., Verizon uses 140 solar panels at its Carrollwood central office building to generate an average of 19 kilowatts to 21 kilowatts a day. 

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