In an age where many companies are green washing, trying to market anything as green, it's important to let our users know that the power Lavva utilizes is generated by hydroelectric energy, which has the lowest carbon emissions in the industry. As for the organization, we too have the lowest carbon emissions and we also purchase carbon offsets in order to achieve zero carbon footprint. We practice environmental consideration in our entire operations from the very beginning of any project, unlike companies that just purchase carbon offsets to call themselves green, but in reality they are still part of the pollution problem.
Our data center and Lavva.com run on energy that has the lowest carbon emissions in the industry! That's pretty significant considering data centers are one of the largest consumers of electrical energy in North America and thus one of the largest contributors of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. Data centers will soon surpass the airline industry as the largest polluters on earth - that's significant! Just imagine how a small step like making a search online can be part of the solution. It's a small step but definitely the right step towards a cleaner planet.
Ensuring that we are as environmentally responsible as possible has become critical due to both the rising cost of energy and the onset of global climate change. There are a lot of factors that contribute to a green data center.
Our Commitment
Recognizing the need to have a holistic system for sustainable business operations, Lavva aims to minimize our footprint in all our business operations.
Lavva employees are encouraged to minimize their footprint by purchasing recycled, or refurbished IT equipment and disposing of old equipment in an environmentally responsible manner. Lavva employees are also encouraged to choose environmentally friendly travelling options like biking, walking, carpooling, and taking public transportation and trains. Web-based teleconferencing is utilized in order to have collaboration of individuals around the world while avoiding plane travel.
Sustainable business operations also means that all Lavva paper products, from business cards to brochures are printed using environmentally-friendly inks on 100% post-consumer recycled paper.
Ensuring that we are as environmentally responsible as possible has become critical due to both the rising cost of energy and the onset of global climate change. There are a lot of factors that contribute to a green data center. Among them are these two critical features:
Green Power
Most data centers get their power from coal fired generating plants, nuclear plants, or diesel generators. None of these are green. Coal and diesel fired generators create tremendous amounts of CO2 emissions; and nuclear plants, while not creating CO2 emissions, create highly toxic radioactive waste for which no safe disposal method and location has yet been developed. Green is not just about carbon, it's a holistic approach to the environment.
Of all the readily available current power sources sufficient to run a large commercial data center (20M+MW Megawatts), hydroelectric power is by far the greenest. It produces the smallest amount of CO2 waste-a 97% reduction from other energy sources. All of our data centers are powered by 100% renewable energy.
Green Consumption
Power consumption is equally as important as the source of that power, as the capacity to produce energy in any system is finite. Since power used one place cannot be allocated elsewhere at a further generating capacity, providers are required to offset that use, and that further capacity may not be green. Data centers that want to be green must pursue strategies that lead to the least amount of power consumed.
The single largest consumer of power in a data center is HVAC (Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning.) Data centers generate tremendous amounts of waste heat. Through the use of the latest in hot/cold aisle designs, water cooled cold doors on the racks and IBM's Stored Cooling system, waste heat is efficiently dealt with using a minimum of energy.
By using these efficient technologies it is possible to get power densities of 300 to 700+ Watts per sq. ft. compared to the normal 100 to 150 Watts per sq. ft. most data centers run at. This means less space per unit of server capacity needs to be heated and/or cooled and that saves energy.
Green Data
A server has the same annual carbon footprint as your average SUV doing 15 miles to the gallon. Yet, whereas the SUV is seen as a villain from the environmental perspective, the server is not.
The average data center consists of 100,000 servers. That's the equivalent of 100,000 SUVs in carbon emissions per year. With all the technologies Lavva's data center uses, 100,000 servers become equal to only 460 SUV equivalents.
That's a 97% emissions reduction! By using Lavva, a small step like making a search online can be part of the solution of reducing greenhouse gas emissions into the environment.
With all the initiatives we take in the green movement, by committing to Lavva, you yourself are committing to green.
We believe we've created a revolutionary model to spearhead the worldwide green movement, we want to raise awareness and help track and reduce carbon footprints left by ALL levels of commerce, from individuals to corporations, and create a system that rewards being green. See partners/sponsors.
