Businesses across industries are looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprints and adopt more sustainable practices. While technology can help with these efforts, globally, increased technology use is leading to higher energy consumption, so it’s especially important for tech teams to look for ways to be more energy-efficient.
To make a real and lasting positive impact, businesses need to not only look for ways in which technology can streamline processes and reduce resource usage, but also ensure their tech solutions are as energy-efficient and sustainable as possible. Below, 20 members of Forbes Technology Council discuss some smart practices to help businesses and tech teams “go green.”
1. Embrace The Cloud
Go green and boost your business! Integrate sustainability into your technical operations with cloud computing and virtualization. Cut energy consumption, shrink your carbon footprint and scale operations efficiently. Cloud providers offer energy-efficient data centers powered by renewables. Embrace the cloud, save costs and make a positive impact.
2. Explore Capacity And Power Management Options Within The Cloud
As cloud computing has become mainstream, many organizations have struggled to ensure the cost-optimization benefits are realized. Through adoption of capacity management, power management policies (applied to laptops and desktops) and power cycling features within the cloud IT data center environment, organizations can realize both financial and sustainability advantages.
3. Upgrade To More Energy-Efficient Facilities
An often-overlooked but high-impact contributor to climate change is a company’s real estate portfolio; real estate accounts for about 40% of global greenhouse gas emissions. By upgrading to greener, more energy-efficient offices and data centers, tech operations can be much more sustainable.
4. Establish A Comprehensive IT Platform
Most IT organizations do not look at their operations through a holistic lens. They have acquired capability for a specific function, but have not considered interdependencies. To integrate sustainability, businesses need a comprehensive IT platform, with a data fabric and open architecture, that enables them to evolve and take advantage of innovations and automation.
5. Reduce ‘Dark’ Data
IT organizations can run more sustainably when they implement processes to reduce the amount of “dark” data, or data that is never used. This will require revisiting data governance policies around data retention and archiving and implementing systems and processes to automatically discover and archive dark data.
6. Invest In Renewable Energy Sources
Businesses can achieve sustainability by investing in renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind, for powering data centers and offsetting energy consumption. Green data centers equipped with free cooling, efficient power distribution, renewable energy integration and electronic equipment recycling play a crucial role in sustainable practices.
7. Follow Green Computing Practices
Green computing is key to integrating sustainability into tech operations. This involves optimizing data centers, adopting cloud computing, managing e-waste responsibly and training employees on sustainable practices. By adopting such practices, businesses can reduce their environmental impact, save costs and meet the demands of eco-conscious consumers.
8. Focus On Efficiency
Avoid unnecessary duplicate efforts. When executing programs, have a clear path toward efficiency. What are the success metrics for efficiency? What is the timeline for achieving that efficiency? Keep all this in mind while defining and executing any program, project or product.
9. Take A Look At Your Tech Partners
Understand your technology partners. Do your servers follow green standards? Look at the cloud computing solutions you use; do they power their systems through green energy? You will have to spend a little extra energy (no pun intended) to really home in on green technology and fine-tune your systems to avoid excess consumption. But it can ultimately help you save money, as well as the world.
10. Clean Up Unnecessary Code
Many companies sell software that is filled with unnecessary or spaghetti code. First, take a look at what you create and how much needs to be cleaned up, then audit your vendors to make sure you aren’t using excess resources by running unnecessary code.
11. Outsource Short-Term Work Surges
Outsource sudden workload surges. Instead of getting a bigger office space, buying more computers and hiring additional specialists just for a few months, consider outsourcing needed services as a more sustainable and cost-effective approach.
12. Carefully Consider Data Storage Options
Highly performant warehouses use a lot of energy. By being smart about where you keep your data, you’ll save money and follow more sustainable practices. Now that most companies are considering a hybrid or multicloud approach to storage, you should seriously consider maintaining “hot” and “cold” storage to keep costs low and limit the environmental impact of storing your data.
13. Allow Remote Work Arrangements
Boost sustainability efforts through providing your team members with the flexibility to work from home or in the office. When dialing in remotely, employees cut down on travel time, reducing carbon emissions, minimizing pollution and saving on energy costs in the office.
14. Leverage Server Virtualization
One way to integrate sustainability into tech operations is through server virtualization. It allows multiple virtual machines to run on a single physical server, reducing energy consumption, heat generation and space requirements. This approach saves energy, reduces an organization’s carbon footprint and often results in cost savings.
15. Establish Internal Equipment Recycling
An internal marketplace or freecycle site could help companies reuse or repurpose equipment that might otherwise go unused or end up in a landfill. It is so easy to buy something online and have it delivered the next day. But reusing equipment that has already been purchased helps the environment in many more ways than just freeing up space in the landfills.
16. Opt For Eco-Friendly Services And Solutions
Businesses can integrate sustainability by opting for eco-friendly services and solutions. For instance, organizations can leverage energy-efficient software to optimize resource usage and reach out to consultancies for sustainable IT strategies. They help measure and reduce carbon footprints using data analysis. This aligns businesses with environmental goals and supports a greener future.
17. Utilize AI And The IoT To Optimize Energy Use
Businesses can improve sustainability by utilizing artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things to optimize energy use. AI can improve data center efficiency through, for example, cooling optimization and load balancing, while the IoT can manage lighting and HVAC systems based on occupancy and conditions, reducing energy waste and costs. A more energy-efficient operation reduces both a business’ carbon footprint and its operating expenses.
18. Go Paperless
Adopting a paperless or digital documentation system is one way a firm can incorporate sustainable practices and technologies into its technical operations. In a paperless culture, digital reporting and analytics are encouraged, electronic signatures are adopted, and documents are digitized. This strategy shows a dedication to sustainability, protects the environment and makes information more accessible.
19. Hold A ‘Sustainability Hackathon’
Promote a “sustainability hackathon,” engaging employees in ideation around sustainable practices and technologies. This empowers them to create innovative, sustainable solutions tailored for their respective roles and departments. It fosters a culture of sustainability and efficient energy consumption, reduces an organization’s carbon footprint and stimulates creativity.
20. Begin Lifecycle Carbon Accounting
Many businesses don’t start their sustainability journeys with a clean slate; they already have real estate, vehicle fleets and IT in place. Lifecycle carbon accounting, which considers the carbon costs of running and maintaining a business and discarding and replacing equipment, can go a long way toward helping leaders make better choices and focus on areas where the total carbon costs of owning a business can be significantly decreased.