Severe weather shifts are forcing companies to rethink their energy strategies; they're using both technology and geography to become more energy independent.

Leading tech companies like Microsoft, Google and Apple are making huge inroads in the use of renewable energy for corporate facilities and data centers, but cost and delivery challenges remain.

So you’ve found a great data centre run by a provider who seems to tick all the boxes. But before signing on the dotted line and taking space, there are several property and legal traps which need to be examined first. Not only do IT executives need to consider physical security and environmental credentials but even legislation such as the Privacy Act 1988 and the Patriot Act can come into play, say legal experts. Truman Hoyle partner, Nick Finlayson, says IT executives should investigate the physical security of the facility while negotitating a data centre lease. This is because they may not want competitors in the same building or other neighbours – such as political or defence organisations – who might introduce levels of risk for the data centre operation.

A new kind of data center claiming to employ "the world's most efficient cooling system" turns the traditionally unbearable "hot aisle" between server racks into a rather pleasant air-conditioned hallway, all the while using significantly less energy. Integrated energy technology company, Inertech, and construction partner, Skanska, held a tour of their new datacentre design last week at Inertech's headquarters in Danbury, Connecticut. During the tour, analysts and members of the media walked through a sample hot aisle, which runs between the rear walls of two rows of 60kW server racks filled with fully operating servers.

With energy consumption by IT growing, CIOs should take steps to green their data centres, according to Schneider Electric. The Australian carbon tax, effective July 1, puts additional pressure on businesses to increase efficiency. The data centre owner who consumes too much energy “will quickly disappear from the market,” says Schneider Electric IT senior vice president of Asia Pacific and Japan, Philippe Arsonneau. “The growth in data centres is significantly increasing and impacting energy co