(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Wednesday, as you are most likely aware, was Earth Day, and as a result, a lot of the press releases we received this week tied directly into green projects and certifications. It seems like the most appropriate thread to examine when going back through this week’s news.
Probably the most significant news this week in the “green hosting” vein was the announcement by the US Environmental Protection Agency, that after a year of investigating the market, it is close to issuing its Energy Star certification for data centers, a badge well known for appearing on, for instance, household appliances. The organization described the structure of the certification in this week’s announcement.
While the industry-wide impact of most of the “green hosting” releases appearing this week was limited, outside of the EPA’s announcement, there was nevertheless a nice, long list of independently fairly significant announcements with just a sprinkling of self aggrandizement.
On Monday, data center operator Terremark Worldwide announced that it was the only hosting company to be included on the Green IT List, a top-12 list published by Computerworld. There were other hosting-related companies included, as you’d probably expect from an IT list – IBM topped the chart, with Hewlett-Packard, Fujitsu America and Microsoft all appearing in the top five.
Also on Monday, telecommunications company Verizon Business announced that employees in its Dallas, Boston and Tulsa operations would be volunteering in support of local Earth Day projects, including landscaping efforts and cleanup jobs at local environmental sites, such as Boston’s Charles River.
On Monday again, data center company Advanced Data Centers announced that it its McClelland Park data center in Sacramento has saved 36 percent on carbon emissions, compared to a typical data center, thanks to its energy saving design features. The data center, built on a former US Air Force base, was constructed using recycled, non-toxic and locally sourced materials. Last summer, prior to its launch, the facility was the first ever LEED Platinum pre-certified data center.
And on Monday yet again – necessitating some specific mention of the fact that most of these announcements were ready to go at the beginning of the week, presumably so they could be mentioned in time for Earth Day proper – Sprint announced that it had cut about $20 million in IT operating costs and lowered its overall carbon footprint by 10,450 metric tons by managing its data center growth. The details came via a report from Forrester Research, a case study documenting Sprint’s 11-month internal audit and its findings.
And while it wasn’t an outright “green” story, the Planet’s posting of a video tour of its recently constructed north Dallas colocation facility did have green elements worth mentioning, given the energy efficiency steps taken in the design and construction of the facility.
Earlier today, we reported on Citi Group’s data center in Frankfurt, Germany receiving the LEED Platinum certification. Citi says the project’s effectiveness was the result of extensive collaboration between the company’s technology and real estate divisions. In addition to the LEED certification, distributed by the US Green Building Council, the building has aready been awarded the Data Center Excellence Green Energy Efficiency Award in 2007 from the European data center industry.
Not too much of the “green hosting” news issued during this week has have a particularly compelling ongoing story attached, there is an obvious ongoing interest to the upcoming release of the EPA’s Energy Star certification for data centers, a story we certainly intend to follow as it continues.
