Future First Sustainability—The Equinix Green Data Center Initiative
According to a report from?451 Research’s Sustainability 2023, most organizations have now either implemented (46%) or are developing (27%) formal targets for reducing their environmental impact.?IT operations contribute to environmental impact. Vendor sustainability and environmental goals are important factors in technology evaluation and purchasing for a whopping 75% of organizations surveyed.
During the Equinix Analyst conference in Dallas last week, I got to sit down with Steve Madden , VP, Digital Transformation and Segmentation Marketing for Equinix.? We dug right into the FY 2022 Sustainability Report and chatted about some of the findings from the current FY23 report that has recently been released.
Steve shared that Equinix has achieved its 100% renewable energy goal and is the first in the data center industry to commit to becoming climate neutral by 2030, science-based target and commitment to become climate neutral by 2030.?Equinix has invested $78 Million in energy efficiency. It was immediately apparent to me that sustainability was a top goal of the leadership team.
Equinix has achieved 24% reduction in operational emissions and a 1.42 average annual PUE. That’s an 8.8% improvement in Power Usage Effectiveness from 2022. Steve gave me a quick primer on?Power Usage Effectiveness, which is a metric used to measure how efficiently data centers use power. He shared that PUE is actually a ratio of the total energy usage over the amount used by IT equipment. with overall efficiency improving as the quotient decreases towards 1.0.?
For a bit of a color, in December 2023, Statista cited that data center operators worldwide reported an average PUE of 1.58.? A PUE of 1.42?is a solid achievement for a company with 260 data centers?in 33 countries on five continents.?PUE often translates into lower power rates and and becomes critically important if energy costs spike.
The conversation moved from PUEs to PPAs or Power Purchase Agreements. In 2023 Equinix executed 15 new Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), bringing the total to 21 PPAs across Australia, France, Iberia, the Nordics and the U.S. In a nutshell Colocation providers like Equinix buy Power Purchase Agreements to bring more power into a local grid from renewable sources. ?In general, a PPA is a multi year contract between renewable energy providers and corporate consumers, like colocation providers at a fixed price. Data centers buy the output of a power plant, usually from renewable energy generators.?This arrangement ensures the energy demands of their operations are covered by an equivalent amount of . This stabilizes the renewal energy market and as customers migrate from traditional data centers, into colocation, they benefit from the economies of efficiency and scale.
One of the ways that Equinix measures accountability for its energy consumption and the renewable component is a Green Power Report (GPR). Each GPR includes a custom renewable energy attestation and total site-level electricity usage, renewable energy coverage and carbon footprint data. The data can be used to make emissions reductions and renewable energy claims to support sustainability reporting efforts and regulatory compliance.
Future First is Equinix’s sustainability approach. The strategy seeks to rally internal and external stakeholders to harness the power of technology to create a more sustainable future.? The Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) initiatives focus on the material issues that have the greatest impact on those stakeholders and our business. The Future First goal aligns with 9 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).? These are the goals that are most aligned with the business model and where Equinix believes they have the greatest opportunity to make an impact.? They are:
·?????? Gender Equality
·?????? Affordable and Clean Energy
·?????? Decent Work and Economic Growth
·?????? Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
·?????? Reduced Inequalities
·?????? Climate Action
·?????? Clean water and Sanitation
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·?????? Responsible Consumption and Production
·?????? Life on Land
The Future First environmental strategy seeks to address the urgency of climate change, manage value chain emissions, scale renewable energy purchasing, and leverage technology and innovation.? Equinix has made measurable strides in many of these areas including DE&I initiatives.
Equinix has made some strides in social impact as well with a 17% increase in female employees globally and a 14% increase in African American employees in the US. While Steve was proud of all the work the company has done around the Future First initiative, he seemed most proud of the DE&I work.? He shared that Equinix is so serious about DE&I that employee compensation at the VP and above level is actually tied to this initiative.? That is an example of tech for good and a good kind of commitment in my book.
?Check out the FY23 Sustainability Report here: https://sustainability.equinix.com/
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B2B Marketing Expert, AI Marketing Specialist, Storyteller, Collaborative Executive Leader, Salesperson at heart
6 个月Excellent post! This issue is increasingly important with the rise of LLMs and the incredible amount of resources they use.
Hi Jo! Was great chatting with you. Looking forward to the next.
Passionate about sharing stories from across the global business world
6 个月Thanks for sharing Jo Peterson
While the effort to embrace sustainability can cost more upfront, it creates a path to greater long-term efficiencies and productivity. Thanks for sharing this update on sustainability from the Dallas conference.
Chaos Coordinator at The Social Buzz Lab: A Strategy First Digital Marketing Team helping brands, companies and individuals build Buzz on social media for over 15 years. Fueled by coffee and a love of marketing. ?
6 个月These are truly impressive results, Jo! It is encouraging to see progress on the sustainability front.