Book Image

Sustainable IT Playbook for Technology Leaders

By : Niklas Sundberg
Book Image

Sustainable IT Playbook for Technology Leaders

By: Niklas Sundberg

Overview of this book

We are at a critical point in human history. Humanity is under threat, but all is not lost. We can take action! But how? Sustainable IT Playbook for Technology Leaders will show you how. It will walk you through the construction and implementation of a sustainable IT strategy and enable you to do your bit for the future of mankind. The book is split into three parts. Part I details the “why” and the clear and present danger that humanity faces today: the climate crisis. How did we get here, what are the immediate threats, what are the planetary boundaries that we need to peel back to safe levels, and what impact does IT have on society at large? Part II will focus on the "what.” It examines the nitty-gritty details of what we can do to unlock significant returns on sustainable investments toward a more sustainable future. Part III, the final part of the book, focuses on the “how.” How do you turn your ideas into action? What do you need to do to establish your baseline and your direction of travel towards your objective? This part provides tangible case studies and explains how you can start your journey today to begin delivering global and impactful objectives. By the end of this book, you’ll be able to plan, implement, and communicate a sustainable IT strategy and set yourself apart as a progressive technology leader.
Table of Contents (18 chapters)
1
Part 1: Why Is Sustainable IT Important?
4
Part 2: What Are Sustainable IT Practices?
12
Part 3: How Do You Accelerate Sustainable IT?

The rise of the net-positive cloud

As we set a high and ambitious goal toward a net-zero future, some companies are taking an even bolder stance and setting a net-positive ambition for their data center business, including companies such as Equinix, atNorth, EcoDataCenter, and Bahnhof from data center infrastructure providers such as Schneider Electric and Alfa Laval. Together with utility providers such as Stockholm Exergi, Vattenfall, and other utility providers, excess heat and wastewater are captured from data centers and pushed back to the utility provider who can then pass it on to the district heating network for heating residential, commercial, and industrial facilities, creating a net-positive equation. Let us take a closer look at the Swedish data center provider EcoDataCenter, which has paired up with the municipality of Falun and the Falun district heating and cooling supplier to create a net-favorable ecosystem:

Figure 4.10: The EcoDataCenter ecosystem...