At Vaimo, we are seeing an increased number of enterprise companies looking at the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Given that global challenges are paramount to customers, you can turn sustainability into a value proposition. With the trend of eCommerce operating in parallel companies want to know: how they can tie the Sustainable Development Goals into their eCommerce strategies? If done successfully, you could transform your brand — increasing customer loyalty as a result.
Making ecommerce sustainable
One way is through sustainable hosting with GleSYS, our partner who hosts 90+ Vaimo clients. Because of this wonderful partnership, our clients will save an estimated 22,79 tons in Co2 emissions during 2021.
In this article, we discuss the questions: how does Vaimo build sustainability into their eCommerce solutions? In addition, we briefly answer the question: what are the initial factors to look for in a sustainable data centre?
Vaimo partners with the Greenest Data Centre: GleSYS
As many countries begin their transition to sustainable energy, so have individual companies like GleSYS, a Swedish data-hosting company founded in 1999. GleSYS has sought numerous measures to make their company greener. For example, they only purchase electricity if the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation gave the energy provider a Good Environmental Choice rating. Since GleSYS only utilises renewable energy for all of its data centres, their average Co2 footprint is 10g per kilowatt-hour which is substantially less than the European average 400 g per kilowatt-hour. Since every kilowatt-hour (kWh) is then reused in the district heating system, this data centre actually saves 83g of Co2 emissions for every kilowatt-hour a server uses.
Every key you press and email you send contributes data. As this data arrives, the data centre moving, processing, and analysing data. As a result, data centres use a lot of power while operating and cooling servers. Each process contributes to the total carbon footprint. The amount of carbon the facility emits furthers increases if the servers are far away and companies don’t manage the residual heat effectively.
Heat poses an enormous problem for data centres. All of the expended power creates excess heat in data centres and forces them to use even more energy to remove the heat. Unsustainable data centres respond through environmentally harmful measures. For instance, they rely on using cooler air from outside (free cooling) and air conditioners (mechanical cooling) to maintain a comfortable temperature. Unfortunately, many data centres ignore the environmental impact that excess heat causes.
Vaimo Helps to Heat 1000 Apartments
To solve the heat problem, GleSYS implemented an innovative technique called heat recovery to collect the extra heat. They send the additional heat to the district heating facility. Thanks to this sustainability measure: GleSYS data centres heat over 1000 apartments in Stockholm. Currently, Vaimo has 200+ dedicated servers in the GleSYS data centres in Stockholm and Falkenberg across 90+ customers. Soon when GleSYS’s Falkenberg facility becomes fully operational, the data centre will provide up to 35% of all the remote heating for Falkenberg, a city with 20,000 inhabitants. This laudable measure demonstrates what companies are capable of when placing sustainability alongside business goals. Moreover, it reflects sustainable actions your company can take on to do eCommerce the right way.
What factors contribute to a sustainable data centre?
Businesses can spot a few factors in their initial discovery phase for a sustainable host. Below are a few criteria that will help you and what GleSYS does in that area. The most important aspect to underscore is the effort to use their residual heat 1000 homes as well as ensure a large carbon emission offset.
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Does GLesys run on renewable energy?
To springboard into the future, GleSYS adopted renewable energy as their fuel source for their data centres. Now, GleSYS only purchases energy from renewable sources. They received an eco-label Good Environmental Choice for their actions in their offices and data centres from the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation.
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How does the data centre dispose of electronic waste?
With an industry that is always developing and utilising the most up-to-date technology, purchasing the newest and most efficient electronics is an essential aspect of GleSYS’s operations. But what happens to the old electronics? In unsustainable companies, they toss the electronics into the trash. At GleSYS, this is not the case. The electronics are recycled in a reliable and environmentally conscious way.
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Does the data centre make their sustainability data available to clients?
GleSYS has provided us with detailed information about our servers’ total carbon footprint as well as the different methods they use to manage their carbon footprint.
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Do they have a goal of continuous improvement in sustainability?
GleSYS continues to seek new ways to become more sustainable with a new sustainable data centre being built in Falkenberg next year. They are also on their way to get a ISO 14001 environmental certification which will help them with continuous improvements. The ISO 14001 is an international standard denoting voluntary adherence to an effective environmental management system.
About Vaimo
Founded in 2008, Vaimo is one of the world’s most respected experts in digital commerce on the Magento and Adobe Commerce Cloud platform. As a full-service omnichannel agency, we deliver strategy, design, development and managed services to brands, retailers and manufacturers all over the world.
Our sharp focus, broad experience and deep expertise within B2B, B2C, PIM, Order Management, and ERP integrations make us a key partner for driving success in digital commerce. Our track record of technical excellence coupled with our proven results in helping our clients succeed with business development, digital strategy and customer experience design is proudly manifested in our status as a Magento Global Elite Partner and a 2020 Adobe Digital Experience Solution Partner of the Year.
With local offices in 15+ markets across EMEA, APAC and North America and over 500 employees, we provide an international presence that allows us to cultivate close, long-term relationships with our clients.
If you’d like to learn how we can help to drive your digital commerce success to the next level, then sign up to our newsletter or get in touch with our team of experts today!
