2Sustain

I’m starting to notice a little shift in the tide. For awhile now, it has been relatively easy to find information about the importance of adopting sustainability initiatives. For instance, we all know that you can find blog post after blog post (including many here) urging you to start moving your company toward climate mitigation strategies and even broader CSR goals. But, now, something somewhat different is starting to emerge. More and more, I’m seeing articles that go a step beyond “why” companies should be sustainable. I’m noticing that people are beginning to talk more about how companies can start implementing sustainability initiatives, as well.

Here’s a great example. Environmental Leader just published “A Cool Way to Address a Data Center Energy Dilemma,” a short, but information-packed, article by Joe Parrino, facilities engineer at UPS Windward Data Center.

Data centers, you’ll remember, are among the top energy-guzzlers in any corporation. In fact, the statistics are staggering. A report from McKinsey & Company estimates that the average data center consumes the same amount of energy as 25,000 households. What’s more, researchers predict that by 2020, the world’s data centers could surpass the airline industry as a greenhouse gas polluter. In short, there’s no question that “greening the data center” should be high on the agenda for any company that wants to improve sustainability and reduce operational costs.

But, recognizing the problem is only step one. How, exactly, do you go about finding a solution?

That’s where people like Parrino are starting to make valuable contributions to the conversation. It seems that finally, we’re able to start talking about answers, practical solutions, the nuts and bolts of implementing important sustainability initiatives. In Parrino’s article, for example, he outlines how UPS arrived at an energy efficient solution for one of its two largest data centers, the Windward Data Center, near Atlanta. After studying the facility’s energy consumption and losses, UPS found some remarkably simple energy reduction opportunities in the Power Distribution Cabinets. Parrino estimates this fix will help save more than 1,500,000 kWh per year. The article contains other details, as well, including how the installation of a Plate Heat Exchanger saves UPS an additional 1,440,000 kWh per year, while simultaneously reducing the company’s carbon emissions by more than 1,000 tons.

These are the sort of down-to-earth, problem-solving facts that I hope we’ll see more of over the coming months, and I’m looking forward to sharing examples that I find particularly compelling.