An image of the Green Power Calculator on the EPA website
(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Managed hosting provider Datapipe announced on Wednesday that it was one of ten organizations in the US to be awarded a Green Power Leadership Award for its green power purchasing, one of several categories – including “on-site generating” and “green power community” – recognized by the award.
“EPA’s Green Power Leadership Award winners are driving the development of new renewable energy sources and demonstrating that green power makes good environmental and business sense,” said Gina McCarthy, assistant administrator for the EPA, quoted in the announcement. “We applaud Datapipe’s efforts and hope that other organizations follow their lead.”
The full list of 2011 award winners is posted on the EPA website.
While the buzz around “green hosting” as a marketing initiative reached near deafening levels (that may have obscured some of more genuine environmentalist efforts) a few years ago, some of the heat has since dissipated, making current green efforts a little more noticeable.
Datapipe says it is currently purchasing nearly 56 million kilowatt-hours of green power each year, meeting 100 percent of the company’s need for electricity. The company says this avoids the emissions of the equivalent of nearly 7,000 passenger vehicles or almost 6,000 average American homes.
According to the EPA, “green power” is electricity generated from “environmentally preferable” renewable resources, including wind, solar, geothermal, biogas, biomass and low-impact hydro. Datapipe says purchasing green power helps to fund the development of new capacity for renewable energy, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions created by the energy sector.
Datapipe says it has also made conservation a priority at each of its data centers, using efficient UPS and cooling gear – along with recycling and waste reduction programs, mass transit incentives and sustainable practices like paperless billing.
“In an industry known for considerable power consumption, Datapipe has a responsibility to continually support long-term sustainability worldwide,” said Robb Allen, Datapipe CEO, quoted in the press release. “We are grateful to receive this recognition from the EPA commending our initiative to power our US facilities with 100 percent renewable energy.”
The EPA’s Green Power Partnership is a voluntary program that encourages participants to buy green power. It currently has close to 1,300 participants, purchasing more than 21 billion kilowatt-hours of green power each year.
While the Green Power Partnership includes companies from a broad range of industries, the EPA has increased its focus on the data center industry in the last few years, an effort that included the launch of an Energy Star certification for data centers in the summer of 2010.
About Liam Eagle
Liam Eagle has worked as a contributor to the Web Host Industry Review since its inception in 2000, and as editor since 2003. He has been editor of the WHIR's print magazine since its launch. His daily involvement in the gathering and reporting of Web hosting news and his regular interaction with Web hosting leaders gives him an uncommonly broad appreciation of the issues and tends facing the business. Through his WHIR blog, Liam spots Web hosting trends and offers opinions on the industry-wide impacts of major developments and the motivation behind big announcements. Follow him on Twitter @liameagle
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