Sustainability in IT: Building Eco-Friendly Infrastructure Without Compromise

Discover how SafeStorz is leading the way in sustainable IT infrastructure—through energy efficiency, hardware reuse, and transparent green hosting practices.

Most small and midsize businesses don’t associate their IT infrastructure with sustainability. However, the truth is that data centers are among the most power-hungry industries on the planet, consuming an estimated 1–2% of global electricity. And that number is growing.

While hyperscale cloud providers have made bold claims about going green, many of these promises are difficult to verify and even more challenging to implement. At SafeStorz, we believe IT infrastructure can be secure, high-performing, and environmentally responsible—without falling into the trap of marketing hype or overbuilt, overpowered cloud platforms.

This post explores what real sustainability in IT looks like, why it matters even for SMBs, and how SafeStorz is walking the walk.

Why SMBs Should Care About Sustainable IT

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) pressure isn’t just for Fortune 500 companies anymore. From customers who care about their footprint to business partners and investors who ask tough questions, more organizations are being held accountable for their energy use, procurement practices, and operational waste.

IT often gets overlooked in this conversation—but it shouldn’t. Even if you’re a small firm, your data lives somewhere. How that data is stored, protected, and accessed has a measurable environmental impact.

If you’re using one of the major public cloud providers, your usage is part of a sprawling, global infrastructure with massive energy demands and opaque sustainability practices. Choosing a more focused and transparent hosting partner—especially one with a long-term hardware strategy—can yield both environmental and financial benefits.

As one writer put it, “Your website might be virtual, but it’s hosted on very real servers burning real power.”

What Makes Infrastructure Actually Sustainable?

According to The Sustainability Awards, green hosting isn’t just about renewable energy. It’s about full-stack transparency—everything from data center cooling to e-waste management and server longevity. That’s where the real impact is made.

• Right-sized compute: Overprovisioned servers burn power unnecessarily. We optimize infrastructure to meet real-world usage, not bloated “just in case” allocations.

  
  

• Hardware lifecycle management: Extending the life of servers, storage, and networking equipment is one of the most impactful choices a provider can make. Constant upgrades aren’t just expensive—they’re wasteful.

  
  

• Strategic reuse: Our team builds and maintains a significant portion of our infrastructure. One of our NAS systems has been in service for over a decade, kept operational through smart part replacement and backup duty.

  
  

• Edge and local hosting: Hosting closer to your users reduces latency, reliance on hyperscalers, and overall power draw.

  
  

Want to see how we think about resilience? Read The True Cost of Downtime.

How Flexential Supports Green Hosting

We host our infrastructure inside Flexential’s world-class data centers—and not by accident. Their sustainability efforts are backed by verified operational metrics and targeted investment.

• PUE and WUE improvements:

  PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) measures energy efficiency; Flexential’s newer sites reach below 1.4. WUE (Water Use Effectiveness) reflects cooling water use—Flexential reports zero WUE at many locations.

  
  

• Energy and water savings: 782,000 kWh and 2.6 million gallons of water saved via LED retrofits, air handler upgrades, and ElectroCell filtration.

  
  

• Green bond financing: $2B+ in green infrastructure investment.

  
  

Learn more: 2024 ESG Report | Sustainability Blog

SafeStorz: Leaner, Greener, Smarter Infrastructure

DataCenterDynamics explains how the COVID-19 pandemic reshaped global supply chains—driving urgency around reuse and circular economy practices. At SafeStorz, this isn’t a trend. It’s a core philosophy.

• We rebuild, repair, and reuse hardware far beyond typical vendor life cycles.

  
  

• We’re investing in refurbished Cisco gear to expand sustainably without compromise.

  
  

• We partner with vendors like Flexential who show—not just claim—their impact.

  
  

Want to know what public cloud gets wrong? Read The Hidden Risks of Public Cloud.

Sustainability Isn't a Trend. It's a Responsibility.

Your business doesn’t need to be a global enterprise to make greener choices. It starts with asking better questions:

• Where is my data hosted?

  
  

• How long is hardware in use?

  
  

• Do we replace—or repair—when something breaks?

  
  

• Can I trust my provider’s sustainability claims?

  
  

At SafeStorz, we help you build infrastructure that reflects your values. Whether you're driven by ESG goals, customer pressure, or just a desire to do things better—we’re here for it.

Talk to us today. Let’s build a secure, high-performance, and sustainable future—together.