Sustainable IT KPMG Publication D. Brack Co-Author

I T A DV I S O RY

Sustainable IT
The case for strategic leadership

A DV I S O RY

About this paper
The purpose of this paper is to provide a practical discussion about sustainable
information technology (IT) and key ideas in the industry at present.

KPMG’s IT Advisory practice recognize the significant amount of literature on
sustainability and sustainable IT available in the public domain. This paper seeks
to provide business people with a primer on what sustainable IT means to them
and their business, the directions it may follow and actions they may consider to
stay current.

Terminology
For the purposes of this paper, we have chosen to use the term “sustainable IT”.
In the Information Communications and Technology (ICT) industry, this is used
interchangeably with “green IT” KPMG believes that “green IT” is a restrictive
.
term that limits the assessment of information technology to environmental
factors, whereas “sustainable IT” incorporates the economic, environmental
and social factors around technology and innovation.

Continued research
This paper contributes to the collection of KPMG publications that address
issues around climate change and sustainability. It builds on KPMG’s technology
thought leadership position, and we invite you to contribute to further research
by contacting one of our firms’ professionals listed in this document.

Sustainable IT
© 2008 KPMG International. KPMG International is a Swiss
1 cooperative. Member firms of the KPMG network of independent
firms are affiliated with KPMG International.

Contents

Executive summary 3

Foreword 4

Introduction 5

Key drivers 7

Power from the grid 8

Competitive advantage 9

Sustainable IT approach 11

Sustainability reporting, legislation and regulations 15

Big business in sustainability 16

Concluding remarks 19

Glossary 24

Contacts 25

Sustainable IT

cooperative. Member firms of the KPMG network of independent 2


Executive summary

• Sustainable IT is essential to the success of your business, it is no longer an
“if” it is now a “when” and “how businesses approach the economic,
,
environmental and social elements to support business survival”
.

“ T he global

inform ation and

comm unications

technology industry
accounts for
• Accounting and financial reporting standards have taken centuries to evolve to
their current state. While voluntary reporting and global guidelines around
sustainability reporting already exist, KPMG predicts that technologists will be
asked by the business to support comprehensive sustainability,
environmental, emissions and carbonuse reporting covering the organization
and its value chain within five years, to the same level of sophistication that
approximately two exists today for financial information.
percent of global
carbon dioxide • Forward thinking organizations around the world are already selfdisclosing
emissions, a figure sustainability reports and making sustainability related commitments to the
market place. Certain countries and jurisdictions have mandated laws and
equival ent to
imposed regulations around various discrete aspects of sustainable IT. This is
aviation.

”

presently in a formative state and mainly focused on eWaste and the disposal
of hazardous materials in technology hardware. Organizations may need to
Source: Gartner, Inc., IT Vendors, Service comply with increasing demands for environmental reporting based on new
Providers and Users can Lighten IT’s regulations. However, the ability to shape the rules in the formative stages
Environmental Footprint, Simon Mingay,
5 December 2007 may be just as important as compliance.

• There are simple, straightforward actions that may be taken to commence
sustainable IT behavior immediately. These include power management tools,
This two percent figure relates considered print/paper management, and the owners of equipment taking
to the entire IT lifecycle – responsibility for the costs of cooling and consumption.
design, manufacture,
distribution, transport and use.
This includes business, • A medium to longterm sustainable IT strategy should be strongly linked to
government and consumer the overall business strategy as well as the organizations’ overall sustainability
use, but no consumer objectives. There are many options to consider regarding capital expenditure
electronics other than cell around data center relocation and redesign, storage considerations,
phones and PCs. virtualization, innovative hardware and sustainability awareness training. All of
these should be considered with a view to economic, environmental and
social impacts.

• Sustainable IT is a tool for competitive advantage. It may be used to decrease
overall operational costs and protect against shocks in the commodity or
energy markets. It may also allow a business to be seen as a preferred
supplier and help to attract and retain skilled staff, particularly in a tight labor
market and the associated “war for talent” .

Sustainable IT

Foreword

Sustainable IT has emerged as a key factor affecting
businesses today. Executives are under pressure to lead
the adoption of sustainable business practices.

Sustainable IT has emerged as a key technology solutions have the ability
factor affecting businesses today. to reduce energy costs and emissions.
Executives are under pressure to lead Management should be aware of
the adoption of sustainable business these alternatives, and decide
practices. whether to embrace leading edge
technologies, potentially generating
The current environment has seen cost efficiencies and competitive
energy costs rising at an alarming rate. advantages for their business and Egidio Zarrella
It is important to consider the ever
clients, or wait for sustainable IT to
present operational expenditure Global Partner in Charge
become a businessasusual activity.
pressures on IT within many IT Advisory
businesses, and that relationship with Sustainable IT is a source of risk as
power use, especially in the current well as opportunity, it covers
economic climate. Much of this important topics that need to be
power usage is concentrated in data understood and managed. IT may be a
center environments, for the provision significant part of the problem, but
of power and cooling for IT systems. may also be a part of the solution.
These cost pressures will be driving There is an opportunity for both
energy saving initiatives, with the business and IT leaders to collaborate
additional benefits of a reduction in to deliver on sustainability objectives.
environmental impact.
Key drivers for action are:
Executives should understand what
sustainable IT means for their business • Cost optimization
and what they should be doing about
• Rising energy costs and limited
it. We believe that with rising energy
electricity supply
costs, and a strong global focus on
climate change, businesses should • Regulations, standards and
consider action to improve their compliance
corporate social standing, reduce
• Corporate citizenship and reputation
energy waste, reduce consumption
and help to preserve the environment. The challenge for executives is to
In doing so, businesses stand to consider the economic, social and
achieve a variety of internal and environmental implications to achieve
external benefits, including potential a balanced outcome for their
cost savings. organization.

Sustainable IT has spawned a number I hope this paper provides insight and
of new industries, technologies and provokes thought on the topic of
vendor solutions. Innovative sustainable IT.

Sustainable IT

Introduction

There is a great deal of scientific research and commentary around the impacts
of climate change and global warming. It is now widely accepted that the
manner in which we live and conduct business is having a harmful impact on our
environment and climate.

Sustainable IT is about the economically, environmentally and socially
responsible practices around information technology. The purpose of this paper
is to inform business leaders on the critical importance of these IT related
issues.

• Economic – in the form of cost efficiencies and competitive advantage.
• Environmental – in the form of energy, waste and consumption efficiencies.
• Social – in the form of the evolution of sustainability reporting and the
development of sustainable organization culture.
For businesses to remain competitive and profitable, they should consider their
approach to sustainable IT in the context of their overall business strategy.
Otherwise, they face the risk of rising operational costs and a disadvantage
when compared to their competitors. Competitive, sustainable IT may be used
to create financial value and generate operational savings.

Similar to the way compliance, risk and issues such as security have become
essential considerations to any organization in recent times, sustainable IT will
evolve from a marginal business trend to businessasusual activity in the next
few years.

This paper notes some short, medium and longterm sustainability strategies that
can help measure, manage and limit the environmental impact of an
organization’s IT.

The evolution of accounting and financial reporting standards has taken hundreds
of years to evolve to the current state. Reporting around an organization’s
sustainability impact is currently limited; however, KPMG expects this to change
quickly. Certain countries and jurisdictions have enacted laws and imposed
regulations around various discrete aspects of sustainable reporting, a trend that
is sure to take hold globally as climate change issues come to the fore.

8.2 out of 10 people prefer Corporate citizenship recognizes that an organization does not and should not act
environmentally in isolation of the communities within which it operates. Globally, organizations
are recognizing the widespread benefits of a more concerted approach,
responsible companies. harmonizing their organizational objectives and the achievement of important
Source: Ethical Corporation economic, environmental and social responsibilities. Striving to become a good
corporate citizen is now considered a responsible and legitimate business
objective as well as preferred practice with the identification of economic gains,
and for some organizations it is now a main priority.

Sustainable IT

An effective approach to sustainable IT may favorably influence the external and
internal perception of an organization.

Potential internal benefits Potential external benefits

• Enhanced ability to attract and • Enhanced ability to attract
retain skilled resources customers and investors
• Improved cost efficiency of • Enhanced ability to attract skilled
operations resources and strategic alliances
• Economic benefits of a long term • Enhanced public image and
sustainable IT strategy reputation
• Decreased operational costs • Government incentives / utility
company rebates
• Protection against energy price
shocks • Positioned well to meet potential
regulatory compliance

A longterm sustainable IT strategy should be strongly linked to the overall
business strategy and the organizations overall sustainability objectives with a
view to the economic, environmental and social considerations.

Source: KPMG International, 2008

Sustainable IT should be considered a business imperative, it can be a
competitive differentiator and the potential benefits reach beyond the
environment and society into the economic realm (with Extended Producer
Responsibility there may even be legal ramifications). Business may soon be
judged on their sustainability credentials by legislators, shareholders, employees
and customers. IT has a key and significant role to play as these changes to
business practices take place.

Sustainable IT

Key drivers

Sustainable IT concerns originated from the realization that data centers
consumed significant amounts of energy, and raised awareness of the
environmental impacts of the endtoend lifecycle effects of technology
hardware. This includes the manufacture, transport, use and disposal of
computer equipment, more specifically the growing volumes of eWaste arising
from the rapid obsolescence of computer equipment.

Some of the key drivers of sustainable IT include:

Cost optimization
Capital expenditure and operational expenditure are key cost measures that
should be considered when looking at IT costs. If operational efficiency can be
improved, this may result in reduced operational expenditure.

Rising energy costs and limited electricity supply
It is recognized that IT consumes significant amounts of energy. The current
volatility in the cost of energy and resultant exposure to rising energy costs
may lead many organizations to reconsider the energy efficiency around the
use of technology. Compounding this issue, in many parts of the world, even
today, the current electricity grid cannot support the anticipated growth in
technologyrelated consumption.

Regulations, standards and compliance
There is presently limited legislation and regulation around the reporting of
sustainability. As this is presently in a formative state, organizations are in a
position to influence and direct policy and regulation. As time passes and
environmental monitoring is determined, formalized and enforced, regular
reporting may be expected.

Corporate citizenship and reputation
Organizations are now judged on their sustainability behavior. This includes
organizations making purchasing decisions based on environmental awareness
as well as cultural changes within the organization to satisfy employee’s
demands for more sustainable activity. Organizations are becoming more
conscious of the perception of their behavior by internal and external
stakeholders.

Sustainable IT

Power from the grid

An important factor to consider is power provision from the grid. In the UK and
South Africa, there are real concerns over the availability of power for current
and future data center requirements. There have been some press reports that
the main utility provider in London is turning down, or postponing requests for
increased capacity from data centers as it plans to meet the requirements of
the 2012 Olympics. More so than ever before, it is critical to the sustainability of
a business’ IT environment that the supply chain is considered, consulted and
communicated with during the planning and implementation of strategy. IT
managers need to closely align demand management practices with those of
the data center facility management team, and accordingly, its supply chain,
including power provision. It is clear that the provision of some of these
services requires planning, consultation and consent, several years in advance
of implementation and this process does not seem to be running smoothly
among all stakeholders.

Sustainable IT

Competitive advantage

Procurement and preferred suppliers
With the recent focus on procurement processes, many large organizations are
streamlining their supply chains by signing preferred provider contracts with a
short list of vendors. In this vendor selection process, sustainability
commitments are appearing on the short list of requirements, which may lead
to a competitive advantage for those vendors capable of proving their
sustainability commitments.

Many organizations have made commitments to the market place about their
sustainability practices, as such, the impact of purchasing decisions on these
commitments should be considered.

Clear sustainability objectives and a system by which to measure, manage and
limit environmental impacts, as well as an ability to articulate these should help
to distinguish an organization from its competitors.

Operational cost reduction
Early data centers differed greatly between each other around security,
availability, capacity and redundancy, lacking the accepted standard service
levels maintained today. Over the years, the services provided by data centers
have been commoditized, which means there is now very little to differentiate
one from another. Operational cost efficiency and resultant cost reduction are
good ways for a data center to try to differentiate itself and provide itself with a
competitive advantage in the market place.

Lowering operational costs is a fundamental business requirement when
seeking to identify competitive advantages.

Many surveys have indicated that server utilization rates can be very low, as low
as 10 to 15 percent in an average data center. Therefore, it is important to
consider an assessment of server utilization, and plan capacity and storage
utilization accordingly.

It is interesting to note that many data centers operating today were designed
and implemented during the “dot com” explosion, where mainstream
technology drove the implementation of multiple physical server instances and
the main cost drivers were around space.

Over recent years, there has been as increase in awareness of the business
criticality of IT systems and demands for facility resilience becoming more
widespread. This had previously been the domain of the financial sector.
Companies are demanding facilities that are highly available, with resilience
designed into the power and cooling systems, right through to the networks and
servers. This trend has been coupled with advances in technology that have
enabled the introduction of blade server environments, more computing power
in a smaller footprint.

This move to “high density computing” requires data center facilities that can
provide power and cooling capacity upwards of 10kW per rack, where the typical
provision is around 3kW. (Source: Steve Salmon, KPMG in the UK) The upward
trends in both resilience and power requirements from a data center facility
have led to a critical shortage of suitable environments for client IT.
Sustainable IT



It is not simply a case of upgrading the power and cooling capacity at an existing
facility, as this will not address the resilience requirements. As a result, companies
Server energy
are having to compromise, while waiting for a new breed of Tier 3 and Tier 4
availability data centers to come on line with high power and cooling densities
requirements have
designed in from the outset (Tiering scale provided by the Uptime Institute). doubled in the last five
years and will continue to
Until recently, the IT industry has concentrated on improving processing power
and storage capacity of their products, whilst all but ignoring the power
rise exponentially in the
consumption of these devices. Research has shown that up to onethird of years to come.
capacity is idle, and power consumption and power leakage, alongside the cost Source: AMD
of ensuring that the data center is kept cool – are all environmental impacts of
technology.

Data centers have immense power requirements in order to keep their
systems running. On top of that, they also have to keep an equivalent number
of environmental systems running to keep the data center operationally viable.
On top of these power requirements, there are redundancy requirements in
the form of back up systems and back up uninterruptible power supply (UPS) Data centers consumed
units, in case the primary ones fail. 0.6 percent of the world’s
A new or retrofitted data center may incorporate one or more of the following electricity in 2000, and
elements: 1 percent in 2005.
Source: McKinsey and Uptime Institute
• Energy efficient hardware with greater processing power
• Intelligent load sharing servers, or blade server technology to allow for growth
• Redesign of hot/cold aisle air flow
• Implementation of focused and better utilized environmental control systems
• Consolidation and virtualization
• Considered requirements around processing power, storage space and the
type of storage device.
A modern data center is
More efficient hardware with greater processing power may yield some of the
following benefits, when requirements for storage and processing are held
basically the same as a
constant. By applying the multiplier effect over time, there may be significant huge refrigerator full of
operational cost savings from: ovens running at full blast
with their doors open.
• Reduced environmental control hardware and power requirements
Source: Bob Hayward, KPMG in Australia.
• Reduced power consumption and energy savings from computer hardware
• More efficient hardware may have a longer operating life, reducing the need
to replace hardware as often
• Less heat generated, resulting in reduced cooling requirements
• Less storage servers required, back up equipment required, cabling and
support infrastructure
• Faster server response time, resulting in greater productivity from employees
• Fewer full time employees required to operate, monitor and maintain servers
• Decreased space consumption.
Sustainable IT

Sustainable IT approach

Environmental impact by industry
The illustration below demonstrates the proportion of environmental impact
contributed by the information technology part of the business, the operational
part of the business and the end product, per industry. This illustration should be
used as an indicative guide to help focus your sustainable IT strategy.

As the illustration shows, the IT department is not always the greatest
contributor of carbon emissions within the organization. Service organizations
have the most significant environmental IT impacts relative to their total
environmental footprint. Energy industry organizations may find that it may be
beneficial to focus their sustainable IT efforts around helping to decrease the
environmental impacts resulting from their business operations. Similarly, the
manufacturing industry may find it more beneficial to use technology to help
them decrease the environmental impacts resulting from the use of their final
product/service.

Source: Gartner, Inc., Defining the Environmental Value of IT, Simon Mingay
and Andrea Di Maio, 15 September 2007; Figure 1.Three Degrees of IT’s
Environmental Impact by Industry Sector

There is a wider perspective on sustainable IT which goes beyond data centers
and end user computing, this is to consider the whole endtoend lifecycle of IT
equipment from manufacture, transport, use, power requirements as well as
endoflife disposal. An aspect of sustainable IT not addressed by this paper is
around the use of technology to affect the sustainability of an organization’s
operational processes and its final product.

Sustainable IT

Short, medium and long term fixes
In order to determine an organization’s sustainable IT strategy, the overall
business strategy should be consulted and the organization’s approach to
sustainability should be considered. Environmental reporting commitments
around measurement, scorecards, dash boards, key performance indicators,
trading systems and commitments to Carbon Accounting should also be
considered.


Sustainable IT

There are many things that may be done, quickly and easily, without significant
infrastructure changes to move your organization towards sustainable IT.
However, if significant hardware investments are being considered, hardware
replacement lifecycle end dates coming due, or significant organizational
changes are being considered – it may be worth considering some more
strategic sustainable IT changes.

Market place
Identifying and implementing technology solutions to re
Enterprise business processe
Suppliers Partners C

Organization
Identifying and implementing technology solutions to reduce environm
Enterprise business processes

IT department
Strategy Governance & Organization Risk Ma
Vision, Targets, Desired Outcomes, Accountabilities, Decision Rights, Enviro
Driving Forces, Motivation, Strategic Policies, Procedures, Incentives and Independ
Plan, Participation in Trading Schemes, Rewards, Budget Validation
Use of Renewable Energy, Offsets

Identifying and Implementing Solutions to Reduce Environmental
Short Term Medium Term
Power management features Reconfigure data centre equipment Loca
Print management Virtualization of servers D
Print use policies Virtualization of storage Specificatio
Disposal of consumables Thin client devices Redu
Ownership of energy costs Selection of servers Softsw
Employee Awareness Storage optimisation Renew
Baseline measures Consolidation Ca
Flex Time/Telecommute Rationalization Mu

Processes and Policies
Procurement Project Facilities Management Capacity Management
Management Business Continuity Disposal/Waste
Management

Resources
Printers Office Systems Data Centre Software Networks
Telecommunications


Sustainable IT

educe environmental impact
s
Channel Customers

mental impact Environmental reporting Environmental reporting

Instrumentation
anagement & Controls Measurement
nmental Risk Profiling, Regulatory filing
dent Assessment, Audit,
n, Compliance, Quality of Scorecards
Reporting

Corporate Social
Impact
Dashboards Responsibility (CSR)
Long Term
ation of data centre(s)
Design of facilities Key Performance Indicators
on of data centre equipment
Triple Bottom Line (TBL)
uce layers in network
witch and softphone (IP)
wable energy sources Trading Systems
apacityondemand
ulticore processors Economic, Social,
Scenarios Governance (ESG)

Human Resources
Measurement and
Carbon accounting
Reporting
Transparency

ISO14001 EMS
Servers Storage

Sustainable IT

Sustainability reporting,
legislation and regulations

Reporting
In order to achieve sustainability objectives measurements are invaluable.
As the old adage goes: “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it” .
Relevant, reliable and detailed data is essential, and IT has a role to play in
facilitating this.

As described in KPMG Australia’s Sustainability Report (2008), internal
management reporting creates focus and direction to guide an
organization’s approach to sustainability. External reporting sharpens the
focus on performance and helps companies appreciate how sustainability
initiatives can create value and enhance their investment credibility.
Reporting that is validated by independent assurance reinforces this
process.

Stakeholders are increasingly interested in understanding the approach and
performance of companies in managing sustainability aspects of their
activities.

At this stage, there is no single, universally accepted definition of
sustainability reporting. Despite this, there is a growing need for detailed
and continuous nonfinancial data collection – this information needs to be
credible and able to stand up to intense scrutiny by customers, employees,
shareholders, tax authorities, governments, and regulatory authorities

Legislation and regulations
Legislation mandating At present, legislation and regulations around sustainable IT largely discuss
Green IT policies is the manufacture, transport and destruction of equipment and the associated
hazardous materials. The next steps should be around the evolution of
maturing and is adopted
technology to support sustainability reporting requirements.
at disparate rates across
countries. The current trend is selfreporting, until regulators implement reporting
standards and requirements. Industry bodies and organizations will gather
Source: Springboard Research
to influence the metrics, reporting formats and comparisons used.

There are two voluntary frameworks that are widely referred to in
sustainability reporting, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the Carbon
Disclosure Project (CDP). At the innovation stage, there may be the ability
to influence and direct policy and regulation.

Sustainable IT

Big business in sustainability

There is a business imperative behind sustainable IT, money to be saved and
money to be made.

Some of the main categories of revenue potential around sustainable IT include:

• Innovation and design
• The measurement and reporting, as well as thirdparty checking of non
financial metrics and benchmarking
• Advice on how to manage sustainability; trade Carbon Credits and solutions
for Carbon Accounting.

Sustainable IT

Innovation and design
Innovation and design become critical elements as organizations seek to gain a
competitive advantage in the use of technology. Similar to how the innovation
from copper cabling to fiber optic cabling transformed the telecommunications
industry, innovation and design can transform the future of sustainable IT and
industry. Innovation and design may address the following:

• Innovative sustainable IT solutions
• Clean fuels and alternate energy sources
• eWaste management
• Examining the full lifecycle of technology products and services, to decrease
the environmental impact
• Energy service companies (ESCO’s) are in the business of helping businesses
trim their energy bills
• Combined heat processing (CHP) – redirecting heat generated from data
centers to heat office space, water and/or swimming pools.

Sustainable IT

Metrics
As organizations seek to report on their commitments, or comply with required
reporting, they may require assistance around the metrics. Metrics may
address the following:

• Tools and technology to help organizations track and manage the
environmental impact of technology
• Environmental impact assessment
• Benchmarking
• Certification
• Analysis around power consumption and thermal footprint
• Sustainability reporting.

Advice
As organizations seek to identify their appetite for sustainability, they may need
assistance with strategies, implementation and advice. Advice may address the
following:

• Architecture and design
• Manufacturing, and materials composition
• Sustainable IT strategy
• Vendors and relationships
• Rightsizing technology.

Sustainable IT

Concluding remarks

Executives have a business imperative to consider the competitive advantage
around sustainable IT. Further, it is also important to consider the regulatory
future in this regard.

Technology is an integral part of business. To remain competitive, businesses
should consider their technology investments with a view to decreasing operating
costs to enhance their competitive advantage. There is now pressure being placed
on Executives to ensure their business technology is managed in an
environmentally friendly manner. This responsibility extends through the whole
ICT lifecycle to include manufacture, transport, use and disposal.

The cost of running an IT department may also be influenced greatly by the
continued rise in energy costs and, in many locations, the lack of supply of energy
to service technology requirements. IT may often be the heaviest consumer of
energy within a company, and as new technology demands higher volumes of
power, IT management is having to come up with smarter, more energy efficient
strategies for running IT operations. There will be longterm operational cost
savings that may be realized with sustainable IT planning.

Ultimately, sustainable IT is a tool by which to decrease technology related
operating costs. This may become a competitive advantage, both from a financial
perspective as well as a corporate responsibility/branding perspective.

Sustainable IT

Sustainable IT initiatives may allow an organization to be seen as a preferred
supplier, and increasingly, organizations are required to prove their sustainability
credentials when tendering for procurement contracts.

Accounting and financial reporting has taken hundreds of years to evolve. KPMG
predicts that within five years, technologists will be asked to support
comprehensive sustainability, environmental, emissions and carbonuse
reporting covering the organization and its value chain.

Regulation and legislation are in formative stages, forward thinking
organizations may contribute to shaping and influencing the rules and
regulations.

The main motivation for sustainable IT should be around economics and
governance. This involves the alignment with, and capitalizing on, stakeholder
values. It is also important to try to preempt stakeholder action, to sustain the
value chain and capture operational efficiencies.

Sustainable IT

Top Five
Recommendations to
jumpstart Sustainable IT

1.
Initiate discussions between IT and

building / facilities management –
to discuss and understand technology
and energy use.

2.
Implement power management features

(turning equipment off when not in use,
auto power down).

Sustainable IT

3.
Implement consideredof printers and set to
(consolidate locations
print management

double side, black and white).

4.
Implement considered safe disposal, donation,
consumables (recycle,
disposal of

corporate take back programs, landfill, cluster
servers, refurbishment – consider waste
generated from supply chain manufacturing of
component and/or final product).

5. Implement the use of video/audio conferencing.

Sustainable IT

KPMG’s Global Green
Initiative

We are committed to reducing our member firms’ combined carbon footprint by
25 percent by the year 2010 from a 2007 baseline, through emission reduction
schemes and the use of renewable energy in our member firms.

Our three commitments:

• Measuring, reducing and reporting KPMG’s carbon footprint.
• Supporting environmental projects to help address the challenges of climate
change within our wider commitment to our communities.
• Working with our employees, suppliers and clients to help them improve their
climate change impacts.

Sustainable IT

N e u t r a l

C a r b o n

Corporate social responsibility (CSR)/Corporate citizenship

r e fe r s t o n e u t r a l
( ze r o ) t o t a l c a r b o n
release, brought
a b o u t by b a l a n c i n g
the amount of
carbon released
with the amount
or
concept where organizations consider the

sequestered
interests of society by taking responsibility for the
impact of their activities on customers, suppliers,

Glossary (glô'sə-rē, glŏs'ə-)
employees, shareholders, communities and other

offset
stakeholders as well as the environment

electronic device
u nwa n t e d e l e c t r i c a l o r
o f a ny b r o ke n o r
wa s t e t y p e c o n s i s t in g
eWaste

N e g a w a t t s

V i r t u a l i z a t i o n

making a single physical

f u n c t i o n a s m u l t i p l e v i rt u a l
computing resource, appear to

t he co ncept of r emov ing the ne ed t o co nsu me
electricity rather than making the energy
consumption more efficient. It is cheaper to not
consume in the first place

to ensure
that they
have not
been over
processing
Rightsizing

provisions
revisiting

provided
capacity

power
IT

and

for
resources

Extended Producer Responsibility
is a strategy designed to promote the integration of
environmental costs associated with products throughout
their life cycles into the market price of the products

S u s t a i n a b l e I T Renewable energy credits tradable environmental commodities, proof that 1
economically, environmentally and megawatt hour of electricity was generated from an
eligible renewable energy resource
socially responsible information
technology

misleading
i n fo r m a t i o n by a n
to
conceal its abuse
the
in
the dissemination

order to present a
public
Greenwash

( d i c t i o n a r y. c o m )
Carbon footprint

environment
organization

positive

a measure of the impact human activities have on
image

the environment in terms of the greenhouse gases
produced, measured in units of carbon dioxide
of

of
F u t u r e p r o o f i n g

stuck with an unsaleable product

to ensure the organization is not

Carbon offset Kyoto protocol
or require an early retrofit

financial instrument representing
a reduction in greenhouse gas a protocol to the international Framework Convention
emissions
on Climate Change with the objective of reducing
greenhouse gases that cause climate change
Girrnmetny
I T

f r i e n d l y i n fo r m a t i o n

Emissions trading
Downcycling
an administrative approach
used to control pollution by is the recycling
e en all

providing economic of material into
technology

incentives for achieving a material of
reductions in the emission of lesser quality
env o

pollutants, sometimes called
cap and trade
cooperative. Member firms of the KPMG network of independent

Contacts

Egidio Zarrella Kumar Parakala Brad Fisher
Global Partner in Charge, IT Advisory Global COO, IT Advisory, Americas region – Sustainable IT
Asia Pacific region – Sustainable IT
KPMG in Australia KPMG in Australia KPMG in the US
+61 2 9335 7590 +61 2 9335 7820 +1 212 909 5498
ezarrella@kpmg.com.au kparakala@kpmg.com.au bfisher@kpmg.com

Sustainable IT

Keith Bannister Bob Hayward Frank Rizzo
Europe region – Sustainable IT Australia region – Sustainable IT Africa region – Sustainable IT

KPMG in the UK KPMG in Australia KPMG in South Africa
+44 20 7311 6558 +61 7 3225 6853 +27 11 647 7388
keith.bannister@kpmg.co.uk bhayward@kpmg.com.au frank.rizzo@kpmg.co.za

This paper could not have been written without the valuable
contributions of:

Edge Zarrella, Kumar Parakala, Andrea Wang, Bob Hayward, Ebrahim Khan,
Gabriel D’Eustachio, Brad Fisher, Frank Rizzo, Keith Bannister, Greg Corlis,
Lance Morton, Matt Bishop, Steve Chase, Steve Salmon, Nasreen Patel,
Michelle Hernandez, Jai Govind, Hanife Ymer, Nick Benson, David Ryan,
Michael Mattern, Margaret Smylie, Shaun Hodierne, Bill Downing, Fiona
RossiMel, Claire Needham, Gene Ozgar, Dominique Brack and Philip Sallick.

Sustainable IT

kpmg.com

The information contained herein is of a general nature and is not intended to address © 2008 KPMG International. KPMG International is a Swiss cooperative. Member
the circumstances of any particular individual or entity. Although we endeavour to firms of the KPMG network of independent firms are affiliated with KPMG
provide accurate and timely information, there can be no guarantee that such International. KPMG International provides no client services. No member firms has
information is accurate as of the date it is received or that it will continue to be any authority to obligate or bind KPMG International or any other member firm visà
accurate in the future. No one should act on such information without appropriate vis third parties, nor does KPMG International have any such authority to obligate or
professional advice after a thorough examination of the particular situation. bind any member firm. All rights reserved.

The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and interviewees KPMG and the KPMG logo are registered trademarks of KPMG International.
and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of KPMG International or
KPMG member firms. August 2008

Sustainable IT KPMG Publication D. Brack Co-Author

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