June 1, 2007—IBM recently announced it is redirecting $1 billion per year across its businesses, mobilizing the company’s resources to dramatically increase the level of energy efficiency in IT. The plan includes new products and services for IBM and its clients to sharply reduce data center energy consumption, with the goal of transforming the world’s business and public technology infrastructures into “green” data centers.
According to IBM, the savings will be substantial: for an average 25,000 square foot data center, clients should be able to achieve 42 percent energy savings. Based on the energy mix in the US, this savings equates to 7,439 tons of carbon emissions saved per year.
Called “Project Big Green,” IBM’s initiative targets corporate data centers where energy constraints and costs can limit their ability to grow. The initiative includes a new global “green team” of more than 850 energy efficiency architects from across IBM.
Today, according to analyst firm IDC, roughly 50 cents is spent on energy for every dollar of computer hardware. This is expected to increase to 71 cents over the next four years.
IBM currently runs the world’s largest commercial technology infrastructure, with more than eight million square feet of data centers in six continents, according to the company. By using the same energy efficiency initiatives it is offering clients today, IBM expects to double the computing capacity of its data centers within the next three years without increasing power consumption or its carbon footprint. Compared to doubling the size of its data centers by building out new space, IBM expects this will help save more than five billion kilowatt hours of energy per year.
For more information, visit IBM’s “Become More Energy Efficient” Web page.
