Juniper Networks has replaced a number of physical servers in its lab and data center environments with virtual servers, reducing the company's server footprint by 30 percent and related energy consumption since 2008, according to the company's first annual Corporate Citizenship and Sustainability Report (PDF).
The report highlights the company's initiatives around green IT, employee and community engagement and global business operations. Here are the environmental highlights.
Juniper Networks has designed a prototype energy-efficient testing lab in Sunnyvale that has resulted in energy savings of up to $200,000 a year, and a reduced the carbon footprint thanks in part to an efficient cooling system and a closed-loop water cooling system to keep lab temperatures optimal.
Since 2004, Juniper has participated in the Carbon Disclosure Project reporting its Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions as a way to identify opportunities for greater efficiencies in managing its carbon footprint. In 2009, almost 60 percent of Juniper's largest suppliers participated in Carbon Disclosure Forum's Supply Chain Leadership Program, which is designed to provide visibility into the emissions of the supply chain.
Juniper invests more than $800 million annually in research and development to improve product designs and help customers integrate sustainable networking principles into their own operations.
The company provides increased efficiency in IT environments through four methods: device efficiency, consolidated devices, simplified architectures and enabling cloud computing. As examples, Juniper Networks' EX4200 and EX8200 switches use roughly eight to ten percent less power than similar competitive platforms.
Juniper says its simplified data center network design requires fewer devices and interconnections, leading to improved efficiencies, power and cooling. For example, in a data center of 3,000 GbE attached servers, a simplified design with Juniper Networks EX Series switches consumes more than 40 percent less power than a traditional design based on a three-layer architecture.
Juniper also is starting to measure and report on the standardized Energy Consumption Rating (ECR) efficiency metric for each defined product class.
At the facility level, Juniper's Scope 1 CO2-equivalent emissions for 2009 totaled 3,327 metric tons. The company is actively managing and trying to reduce the emissions of its sites and travel.
As an example, at its largest facility in Sunnyvale, Calif., the company enrolled one of the engineering buildings in Pacific Gas & Electric Company's Climate Smart Program. This program charges a fee per kilowatt hour, which is invested in greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction and capture projects that are independently verified and registered with the nonprofit Climate Action Reserve.
By supporting these projects, which include forest conservation and the capture of methane gas from dairy farms and landfills, Juniper funded the absorption or reduction of greenhouse gases equal to the amount emitted by the Juniper facility.
The Sunnyvale campus also implemented a number of infrastructure projects to increase capacity, improve efficiency, save energy and reduce emissions, including the replacement of chillers in three buildings with more efficient units. The campus also reconfigured the lab and data center for more efficient air flow and energy management.
Juniper also implemented a new travel policy in 2009 to encourage the use of digital alternatives, such as web meetings, virtual conferences and online collaboration tools instead of face-to-face meetings. The company also has a telecommuting policy and each facility has a variety of programs to encourage alternative modes of transport.
Juniper also has several energy-efficienct measures in place to help reduce indirect energy consumption, including building management systems, lighting controls and motion sensors. Other environmental initiatives include recycling and waste programs. Since the company does not currently capture the results of these efforts in a coordinated global effort, Juniper can't report on its indirect energy savings results.
The company also works with local energy companies, such as PG&E in the San Francisco Bay Area, to reduce its load on the electrical grid during times of increased energy need. In 2009, Juniper participated in 12 events for a total savings of 8,654 kWh.
Juniper also implemented daytime office cleaning services, which reduced its energy use during nighttime hours, saving approximately 181,500 kWh per year. And through dimming or turning off hallway lighting in some of its Sunnyvale buildings during afternoon and weekend working hours, the company has eliminated the use of more than 52,200 kWh.
In 2009, Juniper earned $700,000 in PG&E rebates due to smart building design implementation for three of its key lab projects at its headquarters campus in Sunnyvale.
The company's headquarters facilities currently divert 70 percent waste from the landfill. Juniper also disposed of approximately 175,000 pounds of hazardous waste resulting from the acquisition and development of property adjacent to it Sunnyvale headquarters.
Juniper is starting to track its water use, water discharge and waste disposal rates at its global facilities, and plans to report on its water management efforts in future reports.
