Sustainability at plusserver
Our contribution to the environment, social welfare and governance
While sustainability is increasingly becoming a competitive factor, ever more companies are practicing and promoting it on their own initiative. With plusserver you can be sure to have a cloud partner at your side who supports your objectives for sustainable and efficient IT.
When we talk about sustainability, we don’t just mean environmental protection. We put priority on green IT as a matter of course. Moreover, the sustainable handling of the physical and mental health and safety of all employees, customers and partners also shapes our sustainability strategy. See our Code of Conduct for further details. Essential governance factors such as risk management or transparency round off our measures.
Download our ESG Report
Transparent answers to questions about the environment, social commitment and governance
Sustainable IT signed and sealed
Although data center operations account for a large portion of our energy consumption, we strive to keep energy consumption as low as possible and rely 100 percent on green electricity. Boasting a PUE (power usage effectiveness) value of 1.35, our own data centers are considered particularly energy-efficient.
This is also underlined by our certifications such as DIN EN 16247-1 as well as our own environmental policy. An annual ESG report provides information on our individual environmental, social and governance measures.
Information on the equivalence of certifications (PDF)
With regard to IT governance, we have important certifications such as ISO 27001 or a demonstrably high level of data protection in accordance with IDW PH 9.860.1. Find out more.
Our environmental policy
We place the same importance on ecological commitment as on economic success and social responsibility. Our environmental policy contributes to the following objectives:
- Protect the environment
- Reduce costs
- Establish energy consumption transparency
- Trace energy costs back to their cause
- Quickly identify the energy relevance of corporate changes and take necessary measures
- Ensure the energy supply in line with demand
- Sensitize our employees
Zero Carbon Committed
VMware has launched ‘Zero Carbon Committed’, an initiative in which all participating partners commit to powering their datacenters with 100 percent renewable energy or achieving carbon neutrality by 2030.
We are pleased to support this initiative, as we already power all of our datacenters with renewable energy today.
Our environmental policy at a glance
Holistic approach
We look at the big picture for all our service activities. This means minimizing the consumption of energy and resources throughout the entire supply chain and life cycle. We already take energy efficiency and waste avoidance into account when procuring new equipment.
Sustainability in action
Our teamwork is characterized by humanity, fairness and responsibility. We also promote our employees’ environmental awareness. They are actively involved in implementing the guidelines.
One step ahead
We are committed to continuously and systematically improving our company’s energy performance beyond mere compliance with legal requirements and regulations.
Long-term commitment
We ensure that environmental pollution, energy waste, accidents and illnesses are prevented in the company every single day.
Data center energy efficiency
Our measures to reduce CO2 emissions
Directed air flow through cold and hot aisles
The front and back sides of our servers are arranged opposite each other, resulting in cold and warm aisles. A raised floor allows us to direct the cooling air into the cooling aisle in front of the server racks. By physically separating the cooling air from the warm exhaust air, we significantly increase the data center’s cooling efficiency.
High proportion of cooling energy thanks to free cooling mode
Free cooling can be provided by directly introducing outside air into the data center through pollen filters. If the outdoor temperature is too high, we can switch from direct free cooling to mixed mode. A water circuit absorbs waste heat and releases it to the outside air via heat exchangers.
Ideal supply air temperature of 25 °C
At this temperature, we can use refrigeration systems as little as possible, while reducing the power consumption generated by the system’s fans when the temperature is too high.
Switching off devices that are no longer needed
This includes, for example, servers and peripherals. In-house data centers generally operate more systems than are actually needed at a given moment. The individual hardware components are not optimally utilized. At plusserver, virtualization of resources helps us utilize hardware as efficiently as possible and quickly shut down virtual machines that are not required.
Monitoring of all values
Monitoring of supply air and return air temperature with proactive messages when setpoints are exceeded or not reached.
Sustainability in action: how we reduce our environmental footprint
The use of modern, efficient hardware and the reduction of power consumption in the data center periphery are important milestones on the road to green IT. However, even the small contributions that each of us can make every day count, including:
- Waste prevention, separation and recycling
- Recycling and professional disposal of old systems
- Environmentally-friendly mobility (train before flight, hybrid vehicles as company cars, job bike leasing)
Interested in learning more about sustainable cloud solutions?
We look forward to hearing from you and will get back to you a.s.a.p.!
