How to Approach Your Data Center Provider About Social & Environmental Responsibility

When one thinks about sustainability and environmental responsibility, data centers don’t always come to mind. They consume a huge amount of power. And as demand for these institutions continues to grow, so do energy requirements.

For many businesses, especially in a world and amid a public increasingly concerned about climate change and related natural disasters, a new report from Iron Mountain states these growing energy requirements can be a liability — especially for businesses that are data dense, and/or derive lots of value from their data storage, findings and related reporting.

As we head toward a more sustainable future, ignoring environmental impact is simply not an option, and brings risk. According to Iron Mountain, “That’s especially true in the data center industry.”

But that’s not all bad news. The report shares that if willing to take a few steps, data center decision makers can use their energy purchasing power to move data centers and the data center industry toward a more sustainable future.

Green energy is not only good for the planet, it makes business sense. — Iron Mountain

The new report in particular explores three key questions for these decision makers to ask your data center provider, explained in full in the new white paper.

Do you publicly report your carbon footprint and energy usage? Transparency is key here.  “If they know their carbon footprint and disclose their environmental impacts, they’re probably doing a lot of things right,” said Iron Mountain. “Putting real data in the public domain is a key differentiator between a good green talk track and real accountability.”

Do you use renewable energy to power your data centers? Iron Mountain shares using green energy to offset energy consumption “will go a long way toward meeting your sustainability goals.” And today, renewable energy can often be the less expensive option. 

Can we get credit for your green energy? Lastly, data center decision makers should see if their business can reap any of the rewards if you data center provider does use renewable energy. For example, Iron Mountain’s Green Power Pass is a data center renewable energy solution that gives customers the ability to include the power they consume at any Iron Mountain data center as green power in their CDP, RE100, GRI, or other sustainability reporting, the white paper explains.

Ultimately, making good choices surrounding energy sourcing can help save money, reduce risks, and contribute to solutions to today’s environmental and social responsibility challenges.

Download the full report, “3 Questions to Ask Your Data Center about Environmental & Social Responsibility,” courtesy of Iron Mountain, to explore further how to turn a potential sustainability liability into an opportunity for your organization and further the discussion about environmental responsibility in the expanding world of big data.