Earth Day Roundup: What’s Trending in Sustainability for the IT Infrastructure Space?

On this 55th Earth Day, the world has officially witnessed five and a half decades of efforts to acknowledge and assess (and often reassess) our impact on the planet.

In that time, priorities have changed: 55 years ago, we focused on pollution. Today, it’s all about mitigating climate change, with a strong push for renewable energy and more sustainable practices.

But all of this has to be achieved without overspending. In light of recent tariffs and an unstable economy, cost is a priority for determining what companies implement and what they don’t.

For the IT infrastructure industry, this is a crucial turning point: With the rise of agentic AI and hyperscaler data centers, the U.S. is edging closer to expanding its environmental footprint, not reducing it.

But some know that technology advancements and environmental consciousness can coexist.

While there’s no one-size-fits-all solution, we’ve gathered insights on the most prevalent cleantech trends, backed by years of conversations with industry experts and leaders.

While there is no exact figure on the percentage of data centers that rely on renewable energy in the U.S., one of the clearest trends in IT infrastructure is the growing shift to relying on renewable energy.

Hyperscalers like Google, Azure, and AWS have announced plans to power their data centers entirely with renewable or carbon-free energy.

Similarly, smaller companies and investment firms are also making the switch by adopting renewable energy solutions for their data centers.

There are also some state- and industry-level regulations that newly constructed data centers must adhere to, such as:

• Meeting energy efficiency benchmarks, such as reaching a Power Usage Efficiency (PUE) score of 1.0 or better
• Adhering to zoning laws away from residential areas and environmentally sensitive zones, especially in Northern Virginia
• Implementing efficient water cooling systems, especially in areas facing water scarcity, such as California, Arizona, and Nevada
• Some states enforce caps on emissions for data centers, including California, New York, and Virginia. Data centers in Virginia and Texas get tax breaks if they meet certain criteria, too.

But the U.S. has a long way to go: 56% of electricity used by data centers still comes from fossil fuels (nonrenewable resources like coal, oil, and natural gas).

This is promising for web hosting providers.

Operating out of data centers that prioritize sustainable energy solutions is a simple way to show your customers that you’re committed to reducing your environmental impact.

There’s no question that data centers will grow exponentially; the only question is when.

With the surge in AI-driven workloads, fueled by agentic AI and advanced research, new hyperscaler data centers are sprouting up across the U.S., most notably in the Southwest by 2025.

But with this growth comes higher emissions, which directly contradict many companies’ open efforts to be more sustainable.

In fact, a 2024 Department of Energy report notes that data centers consumed 4.4% of U.S. electricity in 2023, and that could climb to 12% by 2028 without intervention.

And if energy efficiency technologies aren’t widely adopted, demand could reach 15% by 2035, according to Global Efficiency Intelligence.

To tackle this, many data centers are turning to energy-efficient technologies, such as:

• Liquid cooling systems, such as Solidigm’s self-cooling SSDs
• AI-powered energy management, such as auto-scaling or Oxford’s photon technology
• Energy-efficient GPUs, such as Nvidia’s Blackwell GPU
• Thermal energy and battery storage
• Modular and micro data centers

These are sound efforts, but an analysis by Honeywell projects that global data center capacity will more than double by 2030, so the need for these kinds of innovations will only grow.

The U.S. green tech market is set to go from $10.1 billion in 2024 to $79.65 billion by 2033. That’s a CAGR of 23.1% — far higher than many other outlooks in the IT infrastructure market.

Unsurprisingly, the CAGR does align closely with some segments, like IaaS, which is growing at a similar rate because of the adoption of cloud computing and hybrid models.

Speaking of cloud computing, cloud migration alone can cut carbon emissions by 60 million tons a year, suggesting that as green practices become the norm, transparency can become a competitive edge.

Data centers that focus on sustainability are more likely to partner with big tech companies, especially since some companies are required to meet Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria.

For instance, in California, large companies must disclose information about climate-related financial risks and their greenhouse gas emissions.

Consumers are speaking loudly about this, especially the younger generations: 91% of Gen Z say they prefer to buy from sustainable companies, with 77% willing to pay more for sustainable products.

Millennials are close behind at 72%, with Baby Boomers at 62%.

The consensus is clear: The web hosting and data center industries are going green.

Fellow providers can join the club by investing in sustainable technologies, like energy-efficient hardware, and other eco-driven solutions.

And don’t forget to use it as a selling point because the people are listening.