Green Hosting Guide

"Go Green" become a very hot topic in the world right now and there is no exception in web hosting industry. More and more companies try to prove that they are using eco-friendly technology to provide web hosting service and not having any negative impact on the environment in an attempt to attract consumers.

World internet usage statistics shows that the growth of data center is from 400 to 1000% a year, worldwide. If energy consumption with web hosting keeps raising at the current rate by 2020 the industry will be more polluting than the airline industry. With so much demand on resources, eco-friendly hosting services, utilizing green marketing, has emerged.

How Web Host Go Green

There are 3 actions a web host can take to go "Green":

Purchasing of REC (Renewable Energy Certificates)

Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) is a program to support renewable energy generation. For every REC purchased, one megawatt-hour (MWh, or 1000 kilowatt-hours) of renewable electricity is generated and delivered to the power grid.

Since it’s virtually impossible to request only the “green” electrons be delivered to business by your electricity provider, purchasing of REC has become the most common action taken by green web hosting companies to offset their carbon emissions.

Energy Efficient Infrastructure

To make infrastructure energy efficient, first you need to make sure the design of data center follow the industry sustainable design standard (a LEED certificated Data center might be needed). Anything from how you weatherize your center to how you lay out your air conditioning can greatly reduce the amount of energy consumed.

Another action can take is to use some energy effective servers in Data center. Some have two servers housed within a single box, utilizing the same power supply. This cuts down on consumption. There is also a server technology called “speed stepping” that will reduce the amount of voltage and heat a server uses, especially during peak usage.

Plant Tree

Another way green web hosting companies help to offset carbon emissions is to plant trees. For example, many hosts in the industry plant a new tree with every package sold, providing the earth with the natural resources it needs to continuously thrive. While this may seem like a small commitment on the surface, a popular web host that handles high volumes of business can make a significant impact by planting its word.

Less Energy Used during Business Operation

This is about how to save energy when operating business, and there are really a lot of actions we can follow:

• Leveraging office with Solar equipment to generate Solar energy
• Less Travel by using conference call, or working at home
• Using e-Documents in business – less Paper, more Trees and less CO2.
• Less Heating
• And more ...

Summary

Due to all types of reason, it's very difficult to have a web host to follow all above guide, and the most common action they take is to purchase REC, which is definitely better than doing nothing. And some of them have really done great job in this area, such as HostGator, and GreenGeeks, etc. And we hope more and more companies can join this community in the future.