A short definition of sustainable design is to reuse, recycle and renew. It is a broad concept that implements meeting the economic, environmental, and sociopolitical needs of the present generation without endangering future generations.
With increasing public interest in energy manufacturing and use, climate change, material conservation, and waste disposal, it is natural to consider the role the wireless industry plays in the world as it is and the role it could play in the future. The leading network operators are realizing that strong investment in corporate responsibility programs is both a civic obligation and a successful business strategy.
The pairing of sustainable design and the wireless industry is so new that it may be misperceived as in conflict with growth, and there are currently no standards or incentives specifically for wireless operators and/or infrastructure specialists (i.e., tower owners) to use sustainable design to reduce the negative effects on the environment.
However, as energy prices continue to rise and become an increasingly large cost factor in telecom expansion and operation, CFOs from both the network operators and the infrastructure specialists need to question what the short-term and long-term implications are to going green.
Initially, telcos were largely driven to use renewable energy by dramatically increasing energy costs, and the reduction in CO2 emissions was a bonus. More recently, leading telcos have integrated more robust environmental initiatives into their business plans with an emphasis on improving brand perception and tackling climate change. These telcos have already begun to pioneer efforts to stop, if not reverse, adverse impacts that wireless sites have on the environment, including initiatives to decrease their total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 15-20 percent in the near-term.
In fact, after speaking to some of the telcos, there may be a (if only a perceived) penalty for not living up to their commitments to reduce energy use. This has created an even greater sense of urgency for them to have a dialogue.
Sprint-Nextel
Sprint became the first and only wireless telecom company to join the EPA Climate Leaders Program in 2007. Sprint’s goal is to reduce its total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 15 percent by 2017, along with a set of environmental priorities, as part of its expanded environmental program and partnership with the EPA. With the program, Sprint has committed to creating a credible record of their accomplishments in order to receive EPA recognition as corporate environmental leaders.
One of the key areas which Sprint will be targeting to reduce GHG emissions is through its mobile networks and the energy associated with operating them. In fact, Sprint will be increasing the use of renewable energy by having at least 10 percent of the company's energy come from renewable sources by 2017.
Sprint is currently a leader in hydrogen fuel cell deployment within the U.S. communications arena, with more than 250 hydrogen fuel cells in its core network - and with more planned. In addition, Sprint's XOHM network, launched in Baltimore in September 2008, was designed to be green, relying on hydrogen fuel cells as the primary backup power source. Cleaner and quieter than traditional backup power sources, the only by-products of hydrogen fuel cells are emissions-free: water and heat.
"Sprint and its environmental commitments are here for the long term," said Ralph Reid, Sprint vice president, Corporate Social Responsibility. "Our company is much more than the products and services it sells. The effect a company has on the environment, the people and the communities it serves reflects its dedication to being not only a great business - but to being a great corporate citizen."
"Our goal is to decrease Sprint's total greenhouse gas emissions 15 percent by 2017, along with the other targets that we are announcing as part of our robust environmental program, reflect that commitment. These targets help demonstrate Sprint's environmental leadership by clearly articulating what Sprint is doing to help meet today's environmental challenges,” said Dan Hesse, Sprint CEO.
Verizon
“Not only do I think that going green is a good idea from a social- responsibility perspective, in many cases there are also financial incentives to do so — in that every dollar I can save on energy costs, I can spend improving the customer experience in some meaningful way,” said Rich Craig, director of network engineering and operations support for Verizon Wireless and head of the company’s corporate environmental program.
Verizon announced what it says are the global telecom industry’s first energy-efficiency standards, designed to reduce by 20 percent the power consumed by new telecom-related equipment starting January 1, 2009.
Verizon is moving on its own because the industry standards process for reducing power consumption, both to reduce costs and protect the environment, isn’t moving fast enough, said Chuck Graff, director-corporate network and technology. “There really isn’t any specific requirements for energy consumption and heat dissipation – there are objectives in Telcordia requirements but not standards,” Graff said. “We sit on the ATIS team that is looking at this, we chaired it last year, and the committee is looking at it but the standards process is very slow.”
Verizon did its own polling of vendors in conjunction with an energy summit the company hosted in March of 2007, and found most vendors felt a 10 percent to 15 percent reduction in power consumption for their new equipment could be reasonably accomplished, Graff said. “We wanted to push them a little, so we made it 20 percent.”
The new requirement applies to new equipment bought after January 1, 2009, not to systems Verizon is already buying ordeploying.Vendors will have to devote engineering resources to redesigning their equipment to meet the new standards, but should not incur additional manufacturing costs, Graff said.
Once a national standard has been established, Verizon will adopt that, Graff said. The company will also “evaluate where our vendors are in a year and decide whether 20 percent is reasonable, based on the feedback we are going to get. We think these are doable numbers if they put their effort towards that.”
In making energy – and by extension, climate issues – a priority, Verizon is carving a path toward true business sustainability: a positive mixture of increased capital targeting conservation, a decreased environmental impact, and the kind of social responsibility and progressiveness of which its shareholders and employees can brag.
AT&T
AT&T has joined the worldwide Green Grid consortium working with telcos such as Verizon. AT&T Chairman, CEO and President Randall Stephenson said in a statement, "Protecting the environment and economic growth can go hand in hand. As a nation, we can limit greenhouse gas emissions and, at the same time, expand our potential for economic growth. Communications and broadband infrastructure, like the network and services AT&T provides, will be essential components in driving economic growth and achieving meaningful reductions in greenhouse gas emissions."
In its 2007/2008 Citizenship and Sustainability Report, "Connecting for a Sustainable Future," AT&T highlights the deliberate steps it has taken to better align citizenship and sustainability initiatives with its business and long-term growth strategies, including reducing the environmental impact of its operations. In the report, Charlene Lake, AT&T Vice President of Public Affairs, Corporate Citizenship and Sustainability, identifies the need to operate more efficiently, improve how energy is managed, as well as invest in renewable energy solutions.
Furthermore, in their annual report, AT&T asserts that with assistance and thought leadership from suppliers, it plans to reduce energy consumption and cost without sacrificing performance, features and overall supply chain resilience. They expect their suppliers to respect their values when it comes to energy management and efficiency and waste-stream reductions. And they’re working to engage suppliers in proactive strategies to create substantive quality and process improvements.
AT&T expects suppliers to apply a continuous improvement approach to enhance economic, social and environmental conditions. They expect suppliers to add value through innovative products and services, elimination of wasteful practices, increased energy efficiency, reduced total cost of ownership, and end-of-life recycling alternatives. They further assert that suppliers should implement procedures that reduce the environmental impact of their products and services. AT&T expects suppliers to minimize or eliminate the use of hazardous substances in products that they buy.