What’s Lean, Mean and (now) Green?

Written by Matthew Collins on August 25, 2008 – 11:38 am -

Here’s something you may not know: the IT sector has a huge climate impact. At present, between 3 and 4 percent of all electricity (and the associated carbon emissions) used in the world goes to running data centers. If you’re one of the four and a half million registered users of Second Life, consider this: the average Second Life avatar consumes 1,752 kWh of electricity per year, or about two thirds that of an actual person (globally averaged). One server alone has roughly the same climate impact as a 15mpg SUV!

Climate change is real, it’s happening now, and we as a planet desperately need to reduce our IT emissions. And if we wait for the government to solve the problem, we’ll be waiting for a long, long, LONG time.

We’re thrilled to announce that HostGator has joined the ranks of many progressive companies including: Starbucks, IBM, and UPS to take action on addressing climate change right now.

HostGator has gone green, and it’s gone green in a BIG way.
We at Integrated Ecosystem Market Services are very proud to have worked with HostGator to develop a sector-leading program.

What makes HostGator’s program so special?
If you’re thinking about switching to green hosting, good for you! Green hosting is an important step in dealing with climate change. But be aware- once you start asking some questions you’ll find that not all of the .green. hosting options out there are nearly as green as they claim to be. HostGator’s program stands out from the pack for a number of reasons . . .

One, HostGator is using renewable energy to both power and cool their servers, whereas a number of green hosts only offset the electricity used to power their servers. That represents a big difference, because servers generate a lot of heat. For every watt of electricity that a server uses, 1-2 watts of electricity are typically required to cool it. What that means is that HostGator is investing in about twice as much renewable energy, on a per server basis, as those green hosts only using renewable energy to power their servers.

Two, HostGator has invested in Green -e certified Renewable Energy Credits (RECs). That means that all of HostGator’s RECs are verified, tracked and monitored. Sure, there are cheaper carbon credits out there, but HostGator wanted to go green the right way. HostGator can’t very well build a windfarm in downtown Houston, so it’s doing the next best thing and greening its energy at the source with rock solid RECs.

What the heck’s a REC?
Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) are tradeable credits representing all the environmental benefits of 1 megawatt hour of renewable energy. So when HostGator purchases 4,009 Texas wind RECs, it’s basically paying a Texas windfarm to generate renewable energy on HostGator’s behalf. HostGator doesn’t own the windfarm, but for every REC purchased by HostGator, that windfarm generates 1 megawatt of Texas wind power and puts it into the grid. When HostGator draws power from the grid, it can then claim credit for that wind power generated on its behalf.

Three, HostGator has purchased RECs for 130% of the electricity used to power and cool its shared and reseller servers. Good luck finding another green host that has gone this far. Believe me- if they had, they’d let you know it.

Four, HostGator has invested entirely in wind RECs generated in their home state of Texas. Even those green hosts that have opted for certified RECs are generally sourcing them from wherever is cheapest.

HostGator, on the other hand, is thinking globally and acting locally. By insisting on 100% Texas wind RECs HostGator had to pay more for their credits, but they (and you) can rest easy knowing that they’re doing their part for the environment and the local green economy.

So how did we develop and implement the greening program?
First, we calculated the total amount of electricity used by HostGator’s shared and reseller servers. Based on the total number of servers and the average amount of electricity used in a year to power and cool them, we estimated that HostGator would need 4,009 MWh of electricity to offset 130% of the electricity used to power and cool all of HostGator’s shared and reseller servers

Second, we looked at HostGator’s carbon offsetting options. We considered RECs, Certified Emission Reductions and Verified Emission reductions, as well as a number of offset providers. Ultimately, HostGator chose to go with RECs, and to purchase them from one of the best REC providers around: 3Degrees.

RECs and CERs and VERs, Oh My!
RECs aren’t the only offsetting option out there, there are also Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) and Voluntary/Verified Emission Reductions (VERs). The main difference between the three is this: each REC represents 1 additional megawatt of North American wind power, whereas each CER or VER represents one metric ton of reduced or avoided carbon dioxide emissions. CERs and VERs can be generated from a whole range of projects (fuel switching, forestry, changes in industrial processes, etc.), but RECs can only be created by the production of renewable energy.

So why do RECs make the most sense for HostGator? RECs enable HostGator to green its energy right at the source and support the development of clean power, rather than simply paying another company to not pollute.

Finally, I should emphasize that the purchase of Renewable Energy Credits only represents HostGator’s most recent step toward sustainability. Prior to the REC purchase, HostGator had already begun the process of reducing their environmental impact at the office (recycling, minimizing paper use, etc.), and recently switched to higher efficiency servers.

What can you do to minimize your impact on the climate?
Well, for one thing you can switch your hosting company to HostGator, if you’re not already a customer of theirs! You can choose from one of their great shared or reseller plans.

Beyond that, there are myriad ways to go green in your personal life. Most of them are totally painless, for example turning off your computer at night, rather than leaving it in sleep mode. Many of them will save you money in the long run, for example using compact fluorescent bulbs instead of incandescents.

For a quick start, check out CarbonTracker.com’s list of 11 simple steps you can take to minimize your impact on the climate. For even more information, the Environmental Protection Agency has a ton of info on the subject:
(http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/wycd/index.html)

Help us spread the word!
Show the world you are GREEN too! You can place any of the images on any of the sites hosted with HostGator.

Shared Customers

1. 2. 3.

Codes:

1.
<a href="http://www.hostgator.com/green-web-hosting.shtml"> <img src="http://blog.hostgator.com/images/hostgator_green80_15.gif"></a>

2.
<a href="http://www.hostgator.com/green-web-hosting.shtml"><img src="http://blog.hostgator.com/images/hostgator_green83_72b.gif"></a>

3.
<a href="http://www.hostgator.com/green-web-hosting.shtml"> <img src="http://blog.hostgator.com/images/hostgator_green83_72.gif"></a>

Reseller Customers

1. 2.

Codes:

1.
<a href="http://www.hostgator.com/green-web-hosting.shtml"> <img src="http://blog.hostgator.com/images/250×90reseller.gif"></a>

2.
<a href="http://www.hostgator.com/green-web-hosting.shtml"><img src="http://blog.hostgator.com/images/83×72reseller.gif"></a>

Directions:
1. Choose from one of the images above.
2. Highlight the code under the under number of the image you would like to use.
3. Right click the highlighted text.
4. Left click copy.
5. Paste the code inside of the html of your site.

Note about the author:

Matthew Collins is president and CEO of Integrated Ecosystem Market Services (http://www.iemarketservices.com), a carbon consulting firm based in Chicago, IL.


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Posted in News Bites, Web Hosting News, World Gator | 60 Comments »


60 Responses to “What’s Lean, Mean and (now) Green?”

  1. By Douglas on Aug 26, 2008 | Reply

    Web hosting and servers are generally terrible for the environment, so seeing a web hosting company move towards reversing some of those adverse effects is very refreshing. It seems to be getting more and more popular in the industry and anything that hosting companies can do to help the environment is better for everyone.

  2. By Josef on Aug 27, 2008 | Reply

    Hi Guys,

    Dont you think that it would be great if the resselers would also be able to use that Green certification to help sales grow?

    If you are green, and our servers are on your datacenter, we can say that we are green also ;)

    What you think?

    Regards,

    Josef

  3. By Strulli on Aug 30, 2008 | Reply

    I’m proud of you, Gators!
    Keep up the good work!

  4. By Chris on Aug 30, 2008 | Reply

    Yes I agree, it would be nice if the resellers could also take part in this.

  5. By Liam Gardner on Aug 31, 2008 | Reply

    Hey,

    Well Done! I think this is excellent and only HostGator could do this fantastic idea!! If most of the large companies make their move now the rest shall follow. Everyone is now concerned about the environment these days.

    Well done and thank you!!

  6. By Rajesh on Sep 9, 2008 | Reply

    Excellent work guys!!
    Good to know someone’s taking care of the environment..

  7. By Kim on Sep 9, 2008 | Reply

    This is very good news and makes me proud to be working with Host Gator. I will recommend your company even more highly now.

  8. By Michael on Sep 10, 2008 | Reply

    Do you have an icon that hosting clients can place on their sites to signify the green status? If not, that would be a great idea.

  9. By yourmanstan on Sep 11, 2008 | Reply

    is this something that hostgator will continue to do each year? or is that tbd?

  10. By brianm on Sep 11, 2008 | Reply

    Dear Michael,

    I have added some images HostGator’s customers can now place on their sites to signify their site is now GREEN! :)

    Let me know if you guys need any other type of ad?

  11. By Jon McIntosh on Sep 12, 2008 | Reply

    Great idea – I’m glad to see you guys taking large steps towards a solution

  12. By WayneM on Sep 15, 2008 | Reply

    I’d really like to be able to add the “green-e” energy certified logo to my HostGator hosted websites, and have it link to the HostGator “Green Web Hosting” page. (http://www.hostgator.com/green-web-hosting.shtml)

    Can we do something like that?

  13. By Ant on Sep 17, 2008 | Reply

    The 3 logos you have supplied are not much good to resellers, by the very fact they mention hostgator! Are there any in the pipeline for resellers to use?

  14. By Web Content Writer on Sep 17, 2008 | Reply

    Wonderful job! I think that only reliable hosting providers like Hostgator can innovate the system which is beneficial for the surroundings.

  15. By Dani on Sep 17, 2008 | Reply

    This is AWESOME news! I could not be happier! Hostgator is EASILY the best host on the internets! THANK YOU HOSTGATOR FOR GOING GREEN!!

  16. By Dana on Sep 18, 2008 | Reply

    These images are no good for resellers. Unless we had permission to alter these images, they cannot be used.

    Is there anything specific that certifies the claim for rellers to utilize? Without Hostgators branding all over it?

  17. By brianm on Sep 18, 2008 | Reply

    Dear Ant,

    I will be more than happy to make some banners for our resellers to use. I will possibly change our green web hosting page to include those images\codes as well. I will give you guys an update in about a week or so on the reseller banners. We are extremely excited to get such great feedback and interest from our resellers about this important cause. Their coming soon ;-)

  18. By ae on Sep 20, 2008 | Reply

    Way to go, HostGator!

    y o u . r u l e

  19. By Don Richardson on Sep 21, 2008 | Reply

    Please make green hosting creatives for CJ affiliates as soon as possible! Great market niche opportunity!

  20. By Nihat Hatipoglu on Sep 21, 2008 | Reply

    I’m proud of you, Gators!
    Keep up the good work!

  21. By Ant on Sep 22, 2008 | Reply

    @brianm – thanks for the response, will look forward to using them! :)

  22. By Dana on Sep 23, 2008 | Reply

    To Brian,

    Excellent Brian!! Thank you so much for your reply!

    Way to go HostGator! I truly appreciate your innovative ways and I hope it makes you the leading Gator in the industry!

  23. By galiel on Sep 24, 2008 | Reply

    As someone who has used you folks for dozens of my consulting clients and for my own sites, for many years – dating back to your earliest days – this is very exciting.

    I specialize in helping socially responsible nonprofits, public sector agencies and the occasional virtuous for-profit adopt new media technologies. I spent a lot of time researching green hosting services, and still ended up using you folks, even for environmental organizations, because the cost-benefit analysis just didn’t justify switching.

    This makes me feel vindicated by my choice – and I have just sent emails to all my clients letting them know about this and directing them to your “Green” page.

    Thank you for taking the time to actually do this right, and not take the quite and lazy way of just buying credits without changing any of your actual practices.

    Kudos for making a difference in the world, and proving once again that doing good and doing well don’t have to be contradictory.

  24. By brianm on Sep 24, 2008 | Reply

    Dear Galiel,

    That is fantastic to hear. We try and do what we can to help society / environment and spread the message to everyone to take action and make the world a better place than we originally got it.

    One person at a time. :)

  25. By WayneM on Sep 30, 2008 | Reply

    Any progress on some non-branded images for links? I’m especially interested in being able to use the “green-e” energy certified logo.

    Thanks.

  26. By brianm on Oct 2, 2008 | Reply

    Dear WayneM.

    I will have some done within the next 2 days. ;) Sorry Got a little sidetracked.

  27. By Daniel on Oct 11, 2008 | Reply

    Good job guys

  28. By cinq on Oct 15, 2008 | Reply

    my site its now green! and I feel great about!!!

  29. By SerKron on Oct 17, 2008 | Reply

    Excellent!!! Good job Hostgator!!!

    Any progress for resellers? Is there any terms on how resellers can use this information?

  30. By Robert Terrell on Oct 19, 2008 | Reply

    Well, it’s a good thing. We all know it is. And the hostgator.com green initiative is really the big reason I am here at hostgator, to be honest.

    I had a reseller account elsewhere. And I was looking for something “else” actually. Since I live a somewhat green lifestyle in several ways already, I thought this would be important. And I thought it would be something to set my new little company apart as one that actually is a responsible business.

    But can I use this information? I have the private nameservers. Now a dedicated server. But no green “logo” for my site.

    This is important for me. It’s why I’m here.

    Robert Terrell

  31. By Ant on Oct 19, 2008 | Reply

    Hi Brian,
    Any joy doing the reseller non-branded green hosting graphics yet?

  32. By brianm on Oct 20, 2008 | Reply

    Sorry Guys for not replying earlier. I have been backed up with a surprise coming out for our current customers. ;-) We will have more creatives for resellers to use as well as cj and our affiliates to use. Sorry about the wait but it will be worth it. ;)

  33. By Dario on Oct 24, 2008 | Reply

    I’m really proud of HostGator for taking the initiative to do this. It only further solidifies me being a client for the long-haul!

    Bravo!

  34. By sweeboo on Oct 29, 2008 | Reply

    OMG, Hostgator really take this climate impact seriously. hope all big hosting companies will follow hostgator’s step.

    salute to hostgator!

  35. By MarcT on Oct 29, 2008 | Reply

    Thanks for greening our hosting!

  36. By Todd on Nov 1, 2008 | Reply

    Any timeframe on the creatives for dedicated and reseller hosts?

  37. By phototristan on Nov 2, 2008 | Reply

    Great job. You folks are mavericks!

  38. By piperfect on Nov 2, 2008 | Reply

    Hostgator has grown so much over the past few years. The hosting company with the best technical support and customer service is also the most cost effective….AND your environmentally friendly gg

  39. By Jonathan on Nov 3, 2008 | Reply

    It’s good to see that you are helping support the renewable energies industry! While I disagree about the cause of climate change, I encourage everyone to support renewable and environmentally friendly energy! Hostgator has made the right move to purchase REC’s!

  40. By brianm on Nov 4, 2008 | Reply

    Hey Guys,

    Sorry It has been a while. I am still going to get to the reseller images. For the time being, I have made a few affiliate banners for you guys. Here are links to a few:

    http://www.hostgator.com/banners/234×60B.gif
    http://www.hostgator.com/banners/greenad120×600.gif
    http://hostgator.com/banners/728×90aaa.gif

    I will have more banners as time goes on and I will keep you updated in these comments.

  41. By Todd on Nov 5, 2008 | Reply

    Brian,
    The sooner the better on the reseller/dedicated banners as this is a great opportunity for us to promote “Green” hosting. More customers for us equals more customers for HG

  42. By Daniel Osborne on Nov 5, 2008 | Reply

    This is one of the many reasons I am proud to be a Hostgator user!

    Keep up the good work guys, we will now be expecting more from you – keep it going!

    Daniel

  43. By Debbie on Nov 12, 2008 | Reply

    I can’t wait to get the reseller images – I’ll be adding them to my hosting site and including them in my web design newsletters, too. This is a very important selling point for many of my potential customers.

    Any timeframe?

  44. By stefan on Nov 12, 2008 | Reply

    wicked cool, this is why we dig on hostgator!! we re-sell and this is great stuff to add to our marketing materials, because today people do care, a lot!!

    keep it green

  45. By Ant on Nov 14, 2008 | Reply

    Hi,

    Is there any good reason why they might be dragging their heels with these non-branded green banners for resellers to use? Seems like a long time to take over a few images. I would have thought it benefits them and us to get them done sooner rather than later.

  46. By brianm on Nov 17, 2008 | Reply

    Dear Ant,

    I am sorry guys for not getting the reseller images done sooner. I have been pushed back a few projects including the redesign of our control panel as well as our new billing system. I will see if I can at least get you guys at least 3 images within the next week. Thank you for your patience.

  47. By brianm on Nov 18, 2008 | Reply

    I have put up 2 reseller images. I will add more shortly. Thank you for your patience guys! We are glad you want to show the world you are running on a “green” server. ;-)

  48. By Matt on Nov 19, 2008 | Reply

    Great work love it and I am sure my customers will love it too and help sales growth great job peeps.

  49. By Jim Labadie on Nov 24, 2008 | Reply

    That really is inspirational. Personally, I’m a big fan on the Pickens Plan. We need to break the dependency on foreign oil with natural gas. Then, since we won’t be sending billions overseas, we can focus on other solutions.

    I had no idea servers were so un-eco-friendly. Thanks for the education!

    Jim Labadie
    http://ProfessionalGradeNutrition.com

  50. By Ann LaGoy on Dec 16, 2008 | Reply

    Really great! This makes my green business another shade greener!

  51. By Davi P. on Dec 28, 2008 | Reply

    Great news, thanks for getting on the environmental bandwagon. I’ve been hosting with HG for a few years — why was I not informed about this switch to green energy?

  52. By D.M.Rafi on Jan 7, 2009 | Reply

    Didn’t I say amazing yet? Here it goes, Amazing guys!!! Can’t expect anything more than this from anyone who cares for mother nature. YOU ROCK!!!

  53. By Lance on Jan 13, 2009 | Reply

    So I know I am reading this properly. Resellers can claim GREEN since the servers are at Host Gator and Resellers can use the 2 images above under RESELLER CUSTOMERS on there website?

    Are we able to quote any verbage about beeing green?

  54. By brianm on Jan 13, 2009 | Reply

    Dear Lance,

    All of our reseller customers can say that they are green. That is correct. You can also say that your server is being powered by “Green Energy”.

    You can use the above images or you can make your own as well. We would love to see what you guys can come up with as far as creative images saying that your site is green. You can post them here if you wish.

  55. By Ben Stallings on Feb 3, 2009 | Reply

    Thank you for this! It would be helpful if your example code were valid HTML, though … it’s missing height, width, and alt tags.

  56. By Robert D. Reite on Apr 28, 2009 | Reply

    I’m not happy with my current hosting provider, and have been looking to move when my contract is up. There are 1000’s of hosting companies out there, and Hostgator made it to my top 5 list based on features and price. The fact that Hostgator has gone green in a big way makes it the winner! Expect a hosting order from me within the next month.

  57. By MDS on May 1, 2009 | Reply

    Great i could finaly convince my client to move his hoting to gator… Bevore he was in a terrible mexican hosting company which provided me headache. Anyways thaks a lot for taking care of the enviroment! I hope the number moves on day up from 130% to 10000% green Company!
    Thanks thanks thanks again!

  58. By Lennart Sauter on May 7, 2009 | Reply

    I’m a huge fan of green energy – signed up with you guys now.
    Let’s go green :)

  59. By Phil on May 8, 2009 | Reply

    I glad to be a hostgator member, not only do they provide great service, but also their helping our future, good on ya guys.

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