Articles from GreenBiz.com

Autodesk Cuts Data Center Energy Use 60%, Saves $7M

Explore GreenBiz.com (Feb 8 2012) Construction , Carbon Footprint , Servers

An aggressive effort to eliminate data center waste is now saving Autodesk about $7 million a year, according to the design software company.

The initiative led to the consolidation of 85 percent of the company's servers over the past year and enabled the company to exceed its target to reduce data center energy use, said Lynelle Cameron, Autodesk's director of sustainability.

'We had a goal to reduce our energy use by 50 percent and we're now at 60 percent," she said. "The good news behind that is not just that we've reduced our carbon footprint significantly from our data centers, but also we have $7 million of savings annually as a result of that project."

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Greenpeace Puts Google, Cisco, Fujitsu at Top of Green IT Rankings

Explore GreenBiz.com (Feb 7 2012) Construction , Solar , Cloud Computing

Greenpeace today released the latest version of its Cool IT Leaderboard, tracking progress among 21 IT companies in embracing green energy for their own operations as well as advocating for policies that promote clean energy use worldwide.

Google came out on top of the rankings this year, scoring 53 points out of a total 100. Cisco moved from first to second with a score of 49, and Ericsson and Fujitsu tied for third place with 48 points earned.

Overall, the latest rankings show a steep decline from the fourth round of scores, which werepublished in December 2010, during the Cancun climate talks. Cisco led the prior round's pack with a score of 70, while Google held down fourth place with a score of 47.

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Comment Mentions:   Greenpeace   Fujitsu   Google

Army Looks to Cloud Computing to Trim IT Bootprint

Explore GreenBiz.com (Feb 1 2012) Construction , Cloud Computing

 We've all seen the recent headlines publicizing the Army's push to significantly scale back its operations.

That push reaches far beyond its ground forces to include a fleet of data centers that must shrink from about 200 to 20. The military arm's top IT brass wants the Army to meet this consolidation target ahead of its original deadline of fiscal year 2014.

Keeping in line with this timeline, the Army recently awarded its first cloud computing contract to several contractors to help create its own private cloud, including MicroTech, Lockheed Martin Corp. and IBM.

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Comment Mentions:   IBM

'Big Data' Creates Big Opportunities

Explore GreenBiz.com (Jan 30 2012) Construction , Solar , Wind

While nearly every device is getting smaller and more efficient, information is getting much bigger and unwieldy. Billions of bits of data are streaming in from everywhere: buildings, vehicles, manufacturers, warehouses, government agencies, credit card transactions, traffic signals, the electric grid, and just about anything else that is connected -- wired or wirelessly -- to something else. This "internet of things," as it's been dubbed, already consists of a trillion connected devices, and it's growing exponentially. (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   IBM   Interactive Data Corporation   Microsoft Corp

12 Data Center Energy Management Trends for 2012 and Beyond

Explore GreenBiz.com (Jan 25 2012) Construction , Cloud Computing , Servers

The days of IT managers being able to take power for granted in the data center are rapidly coming to an end. Beginning in 2012, the way organizations -- enterprises, government agencies and service providers alike -- all analyze and utilize energy in their data centers will witness some major changes. Already, a growing number of organizations are starting to grapple with increased power demands in the face of constrained capacity. The reason underlying the need to make these changes is rather simple: Most data centers were designed for high performance and high availability, with little or no attention paid to power. (Read Full Article)

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IBM Earns Kudos for 27 Green Data Centers in Europe

Explore GreenBiz.com (Jan 6 2012) Construction , Cloud Computing , Servers

The European Commission has honored 27 IBM data centers for their energy efficiency under the European Union's Code of Conduct for the facilities. News of the award from the EU's executive body came this week. The sites constitute 70 percent of IBM's portfolio of outsourced data centers in Europe. (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   Europe   Uptime Institute   IBM

What's Your Biggest Accomplishment in 2011?

Explore GreenBiz.com (Dec 27 2011) Construction , Fuel Cell

With 2011 coming to a close and 2012 just around the corner, GreenBiz asked executives from a range of companies and organizations to reflect on the past year and look at what lies ahead. They obliged by telling us about their accomplishments, goals, their thoughts about what will drive sustainability in 2012 and how they and their firms can do better in the coming year. Here's what they said when we asked: What's your biggest accomplishment in 2011? Kathrin P. Belliveau, Esq., Vice President, Corporate Responsibility and Government Affairs, Hasbro (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   Natural Resources Defense Council   LEED   Bloom Energy

GE, Trane Team Up to Manage Data Center Energy Use

Explore GreenBiz.com (Dec 13 2011) Cloud Computing , Servers

Trane and GE have teamed up on a new solution that's designed to help data center operators knock down costs for their biggest spend: energy. Ingersoll Rand's Trane brand and GE launched the Tracer XT on Monday and showed it off at the DatacenterDynamics trade show in Toronto. The product is the first to emerge from an agreement between GE and Ingersoll Rand to develop solutions that improve management and operation of data centers. The Tracer XT, which is scheduled for release in January, brings together Trane's expertise in building automation systems and the data management and analytic strength of GE's Proficy enterprise software, part of the company's ecomagination portfolio. The result is an application that pulls together all available data from the systems that support data center operations from basic power to HVAC, lighting, safety and security systems. The solution allows data center operators ... (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory   Gartner Inc.

Companies Shifting to Cloud Computing Save Energy & Cut Waste

Explore GreenBiz.com (Dec 6 2011) Cloud Computing

It's a good thing the rise of cloud computing is essentially unstoppable: New research shows just how much energy companies can save from a migration, even while the same research shows even wider business benefits from cloud computing. A study just published by CSC asked more than 3,600 IT decision makers across eight countries in the Americas, Europe and Asia about how and why their companies migrated to remote computing options. While the top-level findings, especially around green IT, were not surprising, the broad array of benefits businesses accrued from the cloud chart some new territory. (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   Europe   CSC

LG Electronics USA to Cut Carbon Footprint in Half by 2020

Explore GreenBiz.com (Nov 28 2011) Carbon Footprint , Emissions

The North American arm of LG Electronics plans to halve its carbon footprint by 2020. LG Electronics USA said today the company would use 2007 emissions levels as the baseline for the 50 percent reduction, which would largely revolve around its energy use. Its operations consume roughly 19.4 million kilowatt hours each year. In a statement announcing the plan, LG Electronics USA offered a glimpse into how the company would achieve this aggressive goal. Energy management figures prominently in its strategy, such as optimizing its energy management systems, and it also plans to boost efficiency by targeting its HVAC, lighting and data centers. Green power will also play a significant role through LG's purchase of renewable energy certificates (RECs). In October, the company partnered with Blue Star Energy Solutions to buy RECs for its Englewood Cliffs, N.J., headquarters (a 50-50 split between wind and biomass sources), the ... (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   U.N.

Facebook, Yahoo!, QTS Data Centers Land LEED Ratings

Explore GreenBiz.com (Nov 21 2011) Solar , Cloud Computing

Efforts to make the data centers of major tech companies more energy efficient were recognized last week with LEED certifications awarded to a Facebook facility in Oregon, a Yahoo! site in Nebraska and a vast QTS data center in Atlanta -- the second largest in the world. Quality Technology Services, one of the larger providers of data center facilities and managed services, earned LEED-Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council for a 990,000-square-foot site in Georgia, the company said. The firm has worked to reduce and offset power at its Atlanta Metro Data Center in the four years since purchasing the property. Measures include installing a rainwater capture system as part of the site's cooling infrastructure and improving power usage effectiveness by 11.4 percent since January 2010. This past summer, the company hosted an EDF Climate Corps fellow who teamed up with the data center's ... (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   Yahoo   Facebook   LEED

Facebook to Install Hybrid Solar Power and Water System at New HQ

Explore GreenBiz.com (Nov 8 2011) Solar , Wind

Social media giant Facebook plans to install a rooftop solar power system that will provide hot water as well as electricity at the company's new corporate headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif. The hybrid 60-kilowatt system by the startup Cogenra will sit atop the building that houses the campus' 10,163-square-foot fitness center and is expected to generate enough energy to reduce natural gas needs by 60 percent and supply some of the electricity used in the gym. The energy from the system will be used to heat water for showers and power equipment and lights. Highly visible green energy systems are becoming a hallmark of leading businesses in Northern California's Bay Area, from REI's rooftop solar installations in Santa Rosa and San Francisco to Adobe's novel vertical wind turbines on its LEED-Platinum rated headquarters in San Jose. (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   Greenpeace   Natural Resources Defense Council   Oracle

Infographic: The Sky is Green

Explore GreenBiz.com (Oct 26 2011) Cloud Computing

The era of cloud computing is upon us. The market for cloud services is expected to exceed $241 billion by 2020 and cloud providers are rushing to take advantage of the opportunity. As cloud providers compete in a crowded market, environmental performance has emerged as a differentiator. Cloud computing has always been an inherently greener choice than on-site solutions. Not all clouds, however, are equally green, and governments, activists, and customers are increasingly taking note of the greenness of various cloud offerings. A truly green cloud is both "lean" (in terms of amount of energy used) and "clean" (in terms of energy sources). (Read Full Article)

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Google Wants to Show Why the Cloud Means Bigger is Greener

Explore GreenBiz.com (Oct 20 2011) Carbon Footprint , Cloud Computing , Servers

Google's Gmail spells trouble for the U.S. Postal Service and, if you're not careful, it can be a risky place to store your data. Aside from that, Gmail is good for the rest of us -- and, importantly, for the planet. Indeed, cloud-based computing -- the way Google, Amazon, Yahoo!, Microsoft and Facebook and others provide you with data storage and software from their servers -- turns out to be a great way to save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions... if those companies run their businesses right. That's because in computing, as in so many other industries, scale drives efficiency. Bigger is greener. (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   New York Times   Greenpeace   Amazon.com

Akamai, eBay, Google Set Bar for CO2 Reporting by Internet Giants

Explore GreenBiz.com (Sep 13 2011) Carbon Footprint , Emissions , Cloud Computing

Akamai, Apple, eBay and now Google have become industry standouts for disclosing their energy consumption and carbon footprints. Such efforts should be the norm, rather than the exception among global internet and social networking giants, said David Metcalfe, director of the independent analyst firm Verdantix. Sadly, that's not the case, according to new research from Verdantix, which took a hard look at the energy and carbon reporting practices of 14 of the largest firms in the industry. Verdantix put Alibaba, Amazon, Baidu, Expedia, Facebook, Netflix, Priceline, Salesforce, Tencent and Yahoo! under the microscope in addition to Akamai, Apple, eBay and Google. (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   Apple   Amazon.com   Google

Why the CIO Should Be Your Sustainability Champion

Explore GreenBiz.com (Aug 3 2011) Carbon Footprint , Emissions

A recovering economy, rising energy costs and increased energy consumption are driving the need for a more environmentally conscious organization. But who is the best qualified person to lead the charge for a greener, more sustainable business? (Read Full Article)

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How Sustainability is Driving Growth in IT, Telecom and Cleantech

Explore GreenBiz.com (Aug 2 2011) Solar , Cloud Computing

Companies in a wide range of industries are using sustainability as a springboard to growth, often doing so by working across industries as GreenBiz Group's VERGE conference recently demonstrated. (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   IBM

Data Center Power Use Drops as Green IT, Recession Take Effect

Explore GreenBiz.com (Aug 2 2011) Cloud Computing , Servers

An independent study from Jonathan Koomey suggests that efficiency gains means the IT industry is using less energy than first thought. (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   Google   Interactive Data Corporation

IBM's Lighting, Data Center Projects Reap $50M in Energy Savings

Explore GreenBiz.com (Jun 23 2011) Emissions , Cloud Computing , Servers

IBM has saved $50 million in the past two years through thousands of energy and efficiency projects around the world. (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   IBM   Hvac

Raritan Offers New Tools for Managing Data Center Energy Use

Explore GreenBiz.com (May 10 2011) Monitoring , Carbon Footprint , Cloud Computing

Raritan has taken the wraps off a new configurable dashboard along with new tools and gauges for the company’s Power IQ energy management software for data centers. The company unveiled the new resources today for reining in data center energy use during the Uptime Institute’s annual spring symposium in Santa Clara. “Power IQ 3.0’s tools empower a much larger group of users to view and access key data center information in useful ways,” James Cerwinski, senior manager of Raritan’s Power Management Business, said in a statement. “The dashboard can be configured differently for each user’s custom reporting needs.” (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   Uptime Institute   CA

AOL, Kaiser, Capgemini Among Winners of Uptime's Green IT Awards

Explore GreenBiz.com (May 10 2011) Cloud Computing

At the annual Uptime Institute Symposium, solutions for data center energy efficiency cover the entire spectrum of operations. So it's fitting that the winners of the group's annual Green Enterprise IT (GEIT) Awards represent a similar spectrum. The awards, which recognize innovations and high achievements in energy efficiency across the IT department, were given to nine companies in separate categories. The winners are as follow: (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   Uptime Institute   Uptime Institute Symposium   CA

Cisco Enters Container Data Center Market with 1.25-PUE Offering

Explore GreenBiz.com (May 4 2011) Container , Cloud Computing

The CDC, which is built into a 40-foot shipping container structure, promises the usual features: Quick setup time: Cisco estimates it can set up a new compute center within 12 weeks of ordering; as many as 16 racks of space, at 25 kilowatts per rack; and a comprehensive management tool, Cisco's new Data Center Operations 360. Cisco is also touting the container's energy efficiency, with a PUE of 1.25 or lower, which Cisco compares favorably to a hypothetical 1.6 to 3.0 for other data center solutions. The CDC also uses a chilled-water cooling system, mounted in the floor of the container rather than above the racks. (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   Cisco   Pike Research   CA

Facebook Pulls Back Curtain on Green Data Center Secrets

Explore GreenBiz.com (Apr 11 2011) Cloud Computing , Servers

Facebook has launched a major new initiative designed to share its server and data center designs with rivals, in a move that the company claims could save enough energy to power more than 100,000 homes. The Open Compute Project (OCP) will allow the wider IT industry to access the design secrets behind the social network's new data center in Prineville, Ore., which the company says uses 38 percent less power than existing server farms. (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   Greenpeace   Facebook

Greenpeace Lays Out 5-Step Plan for Facebook to Ditch Coal Power

Explore GreenBiz.com (Mar 29 2011) Fossil Fuel , Nuclear

With just over three weeks until Earth Day 2011, Greenpeace today continued its efforts to convince Facebook to adopt a policy of clean energy to power its data centers. The latest moves in Greenpeace's "Unfriend Coal" campaign, which we've been covering for more than a year -- see here, here, and here for some of our coverage -- is hoping to pressure the social network to switch from coal and nuclear power for its data centers and embrace renewable energy technologies like so many of its IT industry peers. (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   Greenpeace   Facebook