Category: Microsoft news

One of the biggest topics of discussion at COP26, the global climate conference held in November 2021, was how a lack of reliable and consistent measurement hampers progress on the path to Net Zero. I have been reflecting on this issue and, on this Earth Day, I would like to provide an update on how we are measuring energy and water use at our datacenters to improve sustainability across the Azure Cloud.

Today, we’re sharing an important update on how Microsoft, and our datacenters, are helping to solve our part of this measurement challenge.

While the environmental goals are similar, each industry has unique challenges in measuring its carbon emissions to build its sustainability strategy. It’s one of the key reasons we, together with ClimateWorks Foundation and 20 other leading organizations, launched the Carbon Call. It’s also why we developed Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability, an Azure-based platform that allows organizations to combine disparate data sources into one place and help provide insights into how to improve their sustainability approaches.

You’ve told us just how important measuring energy and water consumption from our datacenters is in taking sustainability into account for commercial decisions. Below you will see, for the first time, our datacenter PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) and WUE (Water Usage Effectiveness) metrics. To address these capabilities, we set design goals—our theoretical estimates of the most efficient we can operate our datacenters—and ensure we have measurements of our actual efficiencies. These targets can vary between datacenter generations and usage; for instance, newer datacenter generations as well as datacenters operating at peak utilization are more efficient. We track these statistics at a global level and by our operating geographies—Americas, Asia Pacific, and EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa).

Understanding Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE)

PUE is an industry metric that measures how efficiently a datacenter consumes and uses the energy that powers the datacenter, including the operation of systems like powering, cooling, and operating the servers, data networks and lights. The closer the PUE number is to “1,” the more efficient the use of energy.

While local environment and infrastructure can affect how PUE is calculated, there are also slight variations across providers. Here’s the simplest way to think about PUE.

We design and build our datacenters toward the optimum PUE figure. We can also predict, with a high degree of accuracy, that optimum PUE figure. As we constantly innovate, we factor these changes into our datacenter designs to get as close to “1” as feasible. Our newest generation of datacenters have a design PUE of 1.12 and, with each new generation, we strive to become even more efficient. In the chart below, the blue bars show our estimated, or designed, PUE figures, while the grey bars indicate our actual PUE figures. As you can see, in Asia Pacific our actual PUE is higher; that’s due in part to higher ambient temperatures in the region which necessitates additional cooling.

In almost every region, our actual operating PUE is more efficient than our designs.

Understanding Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE)

Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE) is another key metric relating to the efficient and sustainable operations of our datacenters and is a crucial aspect as we work towards our commitment to be water positive by 2030.

WUE is calculated by dividing the number of liters of water used for humidification and cooling by the total annual amount of power (measured in kWh) needed to operate our datacenter IT equipment.

Like PUE, there are variables that can impact WUE—many of which relate to the location of the datacenter. Humid locations often have more atmospheric water, while arid locations have very little. Datacenters in colder parts of the world, like Sweden and Finland operate in naturally cooler environments so require less water for cooling. Our datacenter designs minimize water use. The chart below shows (in blue) our estimated or designed WUE figure, and in grey, our actual WUE figure. Again, Asia Pacific is higher due to higher ambient temperatures and as a result the need in some places for water-cooled chillers.

We continue to integrate our standards in water reduction technologies such as those in our Phoenix, Arizona datacenter where we use direct outside air most of the year to cool servers. We otherwise cool through direct evaporation that requires a fraction of the water compared to other, conventional water-based cooling systems such as water-cooled chillers.

Furthermore, by powering our datacenter with power from the Sun Streams 2 Solar Project owned by local partner, Longroad Energy, we’re displacing the water needed in the traditional electricity generation process and expect to save 356 million liters of water annually.

Scope 3 and supply chain

As we shared in March with our annual sustainability report, we made good progress on a number of our goals. Across the company’s operations, we saw an overall reduction in our Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions of about 17 percent year over year, through our purchasing of renewable energy. At the same time, we also saw a rise in our Scope 3 emissions, which increased about 23 percent year over year.

We know that Scope 3 emissions (representing the total emissions across a company’s entire value chain) are the most difficult to control and reduce, because we can often only influence change. We know this is a long-term effort and this year we have increased our focus on operational discipline that is rooted in reliable data. We’ve also been working with partners across the industry, including Infrastructure Masons on carbon transparency within the datacenter supply chain, and will have exciting news to share at the Datacloud Global Congress on April 25 to 27.

Learn more

We know just how crucial data transparency and consistency are in helping our customers make the correct choices for their business, and hope that today’s announcement on our PUE and WUE data will be an important step forward in informing decisions about their sustainability strategies.

To learn more about our datacenter operations and commitments in action today, you can visit:

As we observe Earth Day 2022, we know that protecting the planet is critical, and we are committed to creating a more sustainable future. For Microsoft, sustainability isn’t just an ambition — it’s part of our culture. Our commitments and actions on sustainability are far-reaching and are some of the most ambitious out there. Our goal isn’t just to become more sustainable though, we want to help every organization on the planet to do the same. Organizations around the world need to transition to a net zero, environmentally sustainable future in a short period of time, and our partners are leveraging the Microsoft cloud, Cloud for Sustainability, data and AI to build innovative applications, solutions and services to help customers transform their operations, products, services and supply chains, to facilitate their transition to net zero, and achieve their sustainability goals.

Partner innovations enable sustainability

Through the Microsoft #BuildFor2030 Initiative we aim to accelerate innovation and collective impact with our partner ecosystem, helping to advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Together we can deliver solutions and services that are good for the planet, and good for business. For Earth Day, and every day, we are proud to celebrate some of our partners who are working to build a more sustainable future.

Optimizing technology for a more resilient future

Our partners offer a variety of Microsoft cloud solutions that empower customers to understand, minimize and manage environmental impact, gain operational efficiencies and achieve more responsible supply chain practices:

• The Awesense Digital Energy Platform is a data model-based framework that energy providers and solution builders can use to scale at the same pace as the rapidly growing energy grid, unlocking and combining energy and geospatial data to enable analytics and visualizations.

• The CadDo Calculate solution helps financial organizations augment financial performance with rigorous, investment-grade SDG metrics to inform investment decisions for improved sustainability.

• Earth Knowledge’s Foresight Platform is providing institutions with forward-looking planetary intelligence that helps companies mitigate future risk and guides investment decisions, bringing clarity to the economic risk of climate change and biodiversity loss.

• Honeywell Forge Predictive Maintenance is a cloud based solution that collects data from building assets and uses machine learning to understand how equipment is running against optimal performance in order to achieve better building performance and realize operating efficiencies.
• ICONICS Water Management solution provide insights to ensure water treatment and filtration happens exactly as planned. Customer benefits include energy and labor savings, leak detection, pollution reduction, government compliance and sustainability improvements.
• SAS worked with Wienerberger AG to develop and deploy a process optimization solution that uses analytics to reduce energy consumption and emissions in the production of bricks. It utilizes a data-based model to compensate for the large fluctuations that occur during the processing of raw materials used to create bricks.
• Uptake provides asset-intensive companies with the traceable, secure, cost-effective ability to connect their machines, people and data together to embrace their fiduciary duty and act in service of global sustainability.

Solutions from systems integrator and advisory partners enable business transformation

Our systems integrator and advisory partners are working with companies around the world, applying their deep industry expertise to deliver Microsoft Cloud-powered sustainability solutions and innovative services that help customers drive operational efficiencies, enable business transformation and achieve their sustainability goals:

• Accenture, Avanade and Microsoft are driving joint sustainability efforts including their pioneering role in the Green Software Foundation, a nonprofit that’s building a trusted ecosystem of people, standards, tooling and practices to enable green software development. And, through Project Amplify, Accenture and Microsoft support dozens of startups that focus on driving social impact and sustainability by providing access to emerging technology and expertise to help them scale their solutions.
• Cognizant believes that technology can help businesses make informed decisions about ESG, lead the transition to lower carbon and build a more inclusive economy that will positively impact the environment. Cognizant and Microsoft collaborated to develop industry-leading solutions  on the Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability including Connected Factory by APEX and OneFacility.
• EY is driving innovation with Microsoft in order to support clients with challenging ESG (Environmental, social and governance) issues including energy transition and decarbonization, stakeholder and risk management, ESG ratings management, regulatory compliance and external reporting. EY’s Microsoft Cloud solutions such as ESG IQ and the Decarbonization Platform, are focused on helping clients solve the new business challenges that ESG presents.

• Corey Glickman, VP Sustainability & Design at Infosys, and Jeff Kavanaugh, head of the Infosys Knowledge Institute, wrote “Infosys – The Practical Sustainability Book” to provide organizations with a practical approach to creating and connecting smart buildings and spaces that deliver proven results and can be replicated by others including global enterprises, small companies or government entities.
• Kyndryl believes that it is mission critical to be a leader who is providing climate change solutions, and they are working with employees, customers and partners to transform our world to net zero. For Kyndryl , the #heart of progress is to build a more sustainable world for today, and for future generations.
• New PwC solutions for smart stadiums utilize digital twins, IoT sensors and AI to promote a more modern, more rewarding experience for everyone entering a stadium or sports facility. These solutions provide a safer, healthier environment for both customers and staff by removing barriers and helping people get where they need to go faster, and behind the scenes, facility managers can realize reduce costs through centralized core functions, smarter resource planning and predictive analytics to monitor, predict and manage equipment status, waste removal and climate control.
• TCS Clever Energy is an enterprise energy and emission management system that helps commercial and industrial organizations be more sustainable, ensures energy and cost efficiencies, decrease carbon emissions, and achieve their carbon neutral goals. The solution accelerates customers’ journey towards neutrality by reducing energy and CO2 consumption by up to 15%, and typically produces a ROI within a year. Over the next five years, TCS expects that the Clever Energy solution will save the company and its customers more than $200 million dollars, and up to 170 tons of CO2 emissions.

Device and chip maker partners help drive sustainability from start to finish

Our hardware partners deliver innovative devices and demonstrate their commitment to the sustainability of our planet through the examination and optimization of their own operations and by sourcing renewable or ocean-bound plastics into their PCs.

• AMD has a proven track-record of prioritizing and delivering on environmental sustainability initiatives and performance backed by over 25 years of public reporting. AMD environmental programs and initiatives span across its value chain including operations, supply chain, manufacturing and products. The company has set ambitious goals through 2025/2030, focused on bold advancements in energy efficiency for accelerated computing applications, a science-based greenhouse gas emissions reduction goal for operations (aligned with the international goal of trying to limit future warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius), and work with suppliers to increase efficient use of resources and renewable energy.
• Acer’s Earthion mission is to provide outstanding products that carefully consider environmental factors in every stage of the product life cycle, and since the launch of the Aspire Vero, based on the Earthion mission, Acer has expanded its Vero line of green products to include more notebook models, desktops, displays and accessories. And the Acer “Earthion” platform unites the strengths of its employees and supply chain partners to help tackle environmental challenges and expand the circle of impact of its sustainability efforts.
• ASUS reduces their environmental footprint by optimizing their packaging and shipping practices. A report found that only 5% of plastic packaging was effectively recycled, so ASUS uses cardboard cartons made of 85% to 90+% recycled paper. In the spirit of reduce, reuse and recycle, the accessory boxes are designed to be converted into laptop stands, and thoughtful consideration for packaging materials’ size, weight, and the way they’re stacked improves energy utilization, which indirectly reduces carbon emissions during transportation.
• Dell just launched a Global Recycling Drive, focused on reducing e-waste through recycling. Consumers in the U.S. can turn eligible devices into credit for their next purchase through Dell Trade-in, or take advantage of Dell Reconnect, a program operated in partnership with Goodwill Industries, to recycle any brand of used computer equipment. Globally, consumers can recycle their computer equipment with Dell’s mail-back program, and business customers can take advantage of Dell’s Asset Recovery Services to securely resell, recycle or return to lease their excess hardware in an environmentally conscious manner that complies with local regulatory guidelines.
• HP is committed to sustainability and has launched more than three hundred new products made with ocean-bound plastic since 2017. Through the company’s advances in technology and commitment to considering the entire lifecycle of its products, HP has diverted a massive amount of waste including 200.8 million pounds of recycled fiber, 61.6 million pounds of post-consumer recycled plastic and eight million pounds of recycled metals. The HP Dragonfly G3 and HP EliteBook 860 G9 commercial PCs are built with ocean-bound and post-consumer recycled plastics.
• On April 13, Intel committed to further reduce its direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions, and to work with customers and industry partners to create solutions to lower the greenhouse gas footprint of the entire technology ecosystem. Intel committed to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across its operations, (Scope 1 and 2 emissions, by 2040.) And, to support customer sustainability goals and reduce Scope 3 product-use greenhouse gas emissions, Intel will increase the energy efficiency of its products and continue to drive the performance improvements that the market demands.
• Lenovo is determined to create a better world, not only through the products, solutions and services they offer, but also in their commitment to implementing sustainable practices. Lenovo endorsed the U.N. CEO Water Mandate, and have implemented a water resiliency policy to manage and measure water consumption throughout their supply chain. In addition, Lenovo is focused on achieving their science-based 2030 commitments to reduce carbon emissions and is evaluating potential pathways to achieve net zero carbon consumption.
• Razer, which builds powerful gaming devices, has an ambitious 10-year road map called Go Green with Razer focused on using recyclable CNC milled aluminum, post-consumer recycled plastics, conflict-free minerals and raw materials in their device manufacturing process, and have pledged to use recycled or recyclable materials in all products by 2030. Customers are encouraged to return their old Razer products to stores for free recycling, and by 2025 Razer will enable consumer disposal and recycling of their products globally.
• Samsung is committed to developing innovative, high-performing products that have minimal impact on the environment, and the company continues to expand its use of renewable energy sources such as solar and geothermal heat in its facilities, and is incorporating use of recycled water and waste as well. They’ve replaced plastic and shrink wrap with packaging made of renewable biomaterials, and are expanding their closed-loop recycling system to recover and reuse more iron, copper and plastics from e-waste. Samsung has committed to achieve zero waste landfills at its mobile work sites by 2025 through initiatives like Galaxy Upcycling, Certified Re-Newed and Trade-In programs.

Giving new life to older devices through the Microsoft Authorized Refurbisher program

Reusing and recycling has always been important to Microsoft, and increased demand for PCs to meet work and learn-from-anywhere needs has made bringing old devices back to life critical. Millions of PCs and other electronics are being repurposed through the Microsoft Authorized Refurbisher (MAR) program, in which partners decommission and refurbish PCs and servers and install the latest Windows software. In 2021, 4,855,068 Windows licenses were issued with refurbished computers, equaling enough electricity to power 1,441,524 houses each year. To help support digital inclusion, MAR partners provide the refurbished PCs to nonprofit organizations, businesses, schools and homes.

Working together to accelerate progress toward a more sustainable world

It will take all of us working together to drive the changes needed to ensure the future of the planet.

The first step is to understand impact, and the Emissions Impact Dashboard can help measure emissions related to Microsoft cloud services. Purchasing partner or Microsoft devices built with sustainability in mind can help people begin to reduce their environmental impact, and Microsoft Sustainable Partners can help organizations measure, model and manage their global operations at scale.

No matter where an organization is in the sustainability journey, our partners’ devices, solutions, and services can help organizations minimize environmental impact, deliver new value, accelerate business transformation and achieve sustainability goals. One company with ambitious commitments, together with an entire ecosystem of partners with ambitious goals, will make a difference around the world!

Let’s recommit to protecting our planet today and every day. This important work represents some of the greatest challenges and biggest opportunities of our lifetime, and the benefits will be tremendous! Learn more about how to advance sustainability initiatives at Microsoft.com/sustainability, and explore partner solutions featured in the Microsoft #BuildFor2030 Initiative.

Tags: #BuildFor2030, Environment, OEM, partners, sustainability