New LHIND White Paper shows the way to a sustainable IT infrastructure

Less than half of the companies in Germany are seriously concerned about saving energy with computers and the like. This is the result of a survey of more than 1,000 employees conducted on behalf of Lufthansa Industry Solutions (LHIND). The result is surprising, as IT is already responsible for roughly the same amount of CO₂ emissions worldwide as shipping. The new LHIND white paper "Greening IT: Increasing Efficiency and Reducing Emissions" shows how organizations can make sustainability an integral part of their IT strategy, and the quick wins that will make their IT not only greener, but also more efficient.

Norderstedt, Germany, July 18, 2024 – "Many companies continue to underestimate their IT-related emissions because they are often difficult to understand and the benefits of digitalization are easy to see," says Kevin Haase, IT strategy consultant at LHIND and one of the authors of the white paper. "Developing an effective sustainability strategy certainly requires initial investment but offers clear economic benefits in the medium term - for example, through increased IT efficiency," the green IT expert continues.

"Developing an effective sustainability strategy certainly requires initial investment but offers clear economic benefits in the medium term."

Kevin Haase,
IT-Strategy Consultant at LHIND

LHIND consultant Haase emphasizes the importance of two concepts: "Greening by IT" and "Greening of IT. While "Greening by IT" describes the use of IT to improve sustainability throughout the company, "Greening of IT" focuses on measures to increase energy efficiency and reduce resource consumption within IT itself.

Improving IT's carbon footprint with a cloud solution

"Concrete measures include extending the useful life of IT equipment or using refurbished hardware," says sustainability expert Haase. Other useful measures include implementing energy-efficient cloud solutions, consciously sharing IT resources and promoting remote working as a means of reducing carbon emissions.

"For cloud applications, less power-hungry endpoints and possibly even energy-saving thin clients are sufficient," adds co-author Bernhard Kube, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at LHIND. Although a cloud solution has its own carbon footprint, a company can often improve its overall carbon footprint with cloud architectures. Kube: "It always depends on the specific deployment scenario. Companies can also reduce their carbon footprint by using the cloud through the type of IT architecture and application operation."

"Greening of IT – Initially, it was mainly about resource and energy consumption, but now the focus has broadened considerably to include the entire IT value chain, including resource and cost optimization in the cloud."

Bernhard Kube,
Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at LHIND

More efficient software development reduces energy consumption

In addition, the LHIND white paper emphasizes the importance of data collection and analysis to determine the carbon footprint. The classification of emissions into Scope 1, 2 and 3 plays an important role. Scope 3 emissions, which cover the entire supply chain, are particularly important for IT, as the production of end devices often generates more emissions than their use.

"But software also plays an important role in an effective sustainability strategy," says LHIND expert Kevin Haase. The white paper shows how energy consumption can be reduced through resource-efficient software development and architecture. Efficient interface design and the choice of programming languages and frameworks that require fewer resources make a significant contribution to reducing CO₂ emissions.

Sustainability strategy must focus on the entire IT value chain

The LHIND white paper also provides a wealth of other valuable information to help organizations make their IT sustainable and efficient. "The greening of IT has been discussed for many years," says LHIND CTO Bernhard Kube. "But the meaning has changed. Initially, it was mainly about resource and energy consumption, but now the focus has broadened considerably to include the entire IT value chain, including resource and cost optimization in the cloud."