Reducing Emissions Through Smarter Business Technology Choices

Reducing carbon footprints and becoming carbon neutral are terms that have reverberated around many industries in recent years as organisational leaders and decision-makers have been pressed to introduce ‘greener’ and more sustainable initiatives and practices into their businesses.

Due to IT's ever-increasing involvement in day-to-day business, calculating your IT carbon footprint has never been more critical. In this blog post, we’ll outline the steps any business should take to ensure they stay on the right side of regulation and also identify meaningful opportunities to reduce emissions, improve operational efficiency, and contribute to a more sustainable future.

Why Your IT Carbon Footprint Matters

Let’s start by looking at what exactly a carbon footprint is. According to Brittanica, a reputable encyclopaedia, it’s the ‘amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions associated with all the activities of a person or other entity (e.g., building, corporation, country, etc.).

An IT carbon footprint is slightly different in that it refers to the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions that can be directly or indirectly traced back to the organisation’s IT activities. These greenhouse gases or fossil fuels could be emitted from various IT resources and infrastructure, such as data centres, servers, and networking equipment.

The Environmental Cost of Technology

As technology experts, we’ve seen firsthand how much of a difference best practices make in tech in everyday business. Thanks to digital transformation and the plethora of tools available to companies and their employees, organisations can increase productivity, streamline operations, and scale growth. However, in some cases, this comes at an environmental cost.

Data centres and AI systems, for instance, consume a fast amount of energy to cope with the gargantuan scale of data and information they store and process. Recently, Open AI’s notorious ChatGPT has come under fire for its substantial energy usage, with global data and business intelligence platform Statista revealing that ‘The average energy consumption of a ChatGPT request was estimated at 2.9 watt-hours, nearly 10 times that of a regular Google search’.

Due to the short lifecycles of some technologies, a lot of E-Waste can be generated. Electronic waste (aka E-Waste) refers to technology products that are broken, faulty, or simply at the end of their lifecycle. According to the Global E-waste Monitor 2024 report by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), ‘the world generated a record 62 million tonnes of e-waste in 2022, with this figure expected to rise to 82 million tonnes by 2030’.

The Business Case for Measuring Carbon Impact

So, why should businesses care about measuring their impact on carbon emissions? Well, the answer lies somewhere in the fact that it’s in their best interests to do so. Here are just a few reasons organisations should consider their carbon footprint:

Internal sustainability goals or CSR commitments:

Many businesses have set internal targets to reach net-zero emissions or reduce their overall environmental impact in a specific time period. Microsoft, for instance, pledged its commitment to not only becoming net zero but announced its plan to achieve being ‘carbon negative by 2030’ back in 2020.

With the exponential rise of digital transformation, businesses are becoming increasingly digitally orientated. Therefore, companies must take a more proactive approach to measuring their carbon footprint and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)—essentially, how an organisation considers its approach towards people and the planet, not just profit.

You may have heard of some common CSR commitments in various industries. These include reducing environmental impact (going paperless), supporting communities and social causes (local charity work), and upholding ethical standards (fair supply chains, etc.).

Stakeholder demand for transparency and greener operations:

Another reason businesses are turning towards a greener approach is the modern-day customer, investor and employee prioritising companies that demonstrate a commitment to sustainability. That means that a business could miss out on a hire, sales opportunity or game-changing investment due to not upholding and aligning with the desired values of potential stakeholders.

If leveraged correctly, this green-led approach could strengthen relationships with existing eco-conscious clients, particularly in industries with sustainability expectations (retail, construction, manufacturing). However, it’s vital that you practice what you preach in this regard by measuring and disclosing your IT emissions to signal transparency, accountability and trust.

Improved decision-making when procuring or retiring equipment:

Calculating your IT carbon footprint could also dramatically impact decision-making when it comes to sourcing new equipment and deciding to retire others.

Nowadays, efficiency is the name of the game, especially when it comes to tech. Therefore, identifying which devices consume the least energy or have the longest lifespan will be a key driver in cutting costs in the modern business landscape.

Adopting best practices such as advocating IT lifecycle planning – knowing when to repair, replace, or retire tech equipment for maximum efficiency and minimal waste – and devising specific procurement policies when sourcing IT could be a great place to start.

What Contributes to Your IT Carbon Footprint?

There are umpteen things that can contribute to your IT carbon footprint—some more visible than others. Below, we’ve compiled a list of a typical IT estate's most common (and carbon-heavy) contributors.

End-user devices

Think laptops, desktops, monitors, printers, and mobile phones—basically, anything your team uses to do their day-to-day work.

• These devices consume electricity during use and contribute to embodied emissions (those released during manufacturing).
• The more devices you have—and the longer they’re used inefficiently—the bigger the footprint.
• Devices left on overnight or used with unnecessary peripherals (like monitors or docks) also contribute to energy waste.

Servers & data centres

Whether you host servers on-premises or use cloud services, data storage and processing come with a carbon cost.

• On-premises (commonly called on-prem) servers consume a lot of energy—especially when not correctly virtualised or cooled.
• Even cloud services (like Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace) have an environmental impact depending on the provider’s energy mix.
• Server rooms also require cooling systems, which further add to the energy load.

Software & digital services

Yes, even software can have a carbon footprint. Why? Because running apps, tools, and platforms often means storing data in the cloud and processing requests through remote servers.

• Video conferencing, streaming, and AI-based tools are especially energy-intensive.
• Software with always-on or background processes (like real-time collaboration tools) can add up fast.
• The more data-heavy and resource-intensive your tools are, the more energy they consume—both locally and in the cloud.

Network infrastructure & energy usage

The backbone of your IT setup, from routers and switches to Wi-Fi access points and telecom equipment, requires continuous power.

• Network gear is often “always on” and not energy optimised.
• Poor network design can lead to inefficiencies and excessive power draw.
• In larger offices, outdated equipment can be a hidden drain on electricity.

Lifecycle emissions

This covers the entire journey of your IT hardware—from manufacturing and shipping to disposal.

• Manufacturing is a significant source of emissions—especially for devices like laptops and servers.
• Air-freighting tech from overseas adds significant CO₂.
• Disposing of old equipment improperly can cause environmental harm and waste valuable resources.

How to Start Measuring Your IT Carbon Footprint

Understanding what contributes to your carbon footprint is only half the battle—the next step is getting the data to back it up. Here’s how to start measuring emissions tied to your IT estate, even if you’re not a sustainability expert.

1. Identify what you want to measure

Start small and scalable. Choose categories that are easiest to track or have the biggest impact, such as:

• Total number and type of end-user devices
• Servers (on-site or cloud-based) and estimated energy usage
• Business-critical software usage (and which cloud providers run it)
• Office network hardware (routers, switches, etc.)
• Device lifecycle and procurement policies (e.g. refresh cycles, disposal methods)

2. Gather data from internal systems or suppliers

Collect data from asset management tools, IT service providers, and energy bills to build your carbon baseline:

• Electricity usage from running and cooling devices
• Inventory data for hardware and cloud usage
• Device lifespans and purchase/shipping records
• Cloud provider reports—Microsoft Azure, AWS, and Google Cloud all offer emissions dashboards or reports

3. Use a carbon footprint calculator or software tool

To turn your data into emissions estimates, you can use a variety of tools, including those built into your cloud and software platforms:

• Microsoft Emissions Impact Dashboard for Azure: As a Microsoft Gold Partner, we strongly recommend leveraging Microsoft’s built-in tools. The Emissions Impact Dashboard for Azure helps businesses gain transparency into the carbon emissions associated with their cloud infrastructure, offering actionable insights to reduce environmental impact.

You can also use Free online tools (Carbon Trust ICT Footprint Tool) or Paid platforms (Normative) to grasp and manage your carbon footprint.

4. Set a baseline and track changes over time

Once you’ve got your first measurement, set it as your baseline. This will give you something to improve on and something against which to show progress when you're making greener changes.

• Set quarterly or annual reviews
• Log major IT changes (device refresh, new software rollouts, cloud migrations)
• Track the impact of energy-saving initiatives (like power settings or server consolidation)

Closing Thoughts

If you’ve gotten this far, I hope you’ve learned a thing or two about IT footprints and how to calculate them. Failing to consider your corporate social responsibility (CSR) in this day and age could be the difference between losing out on an employee to one of your competitors or missing out on a record-breaking new business deal.

The key here is to leverage whatever data you have about your systems and applications to support better, more sustainable business decisions. Once these data points are in place, you’ve got a baseline from which to work. You can then implement a powerful tool for tracking year-on-year improvements.

In our next blog post, we’ll outline how IT Supports ESG Initiatives. Stick around to learn more about Sustainability in IT this April!