Autodesk HQ Cuts Emissions with Lighting Upgrades

September 29, 2008

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Autodesk announced in its latest sustainability report that GHG emissions from its business operations in 2007 equaled about 64,000 metric tons of CO2, from three main categories: employee business travel (56%), energy use in its facilities (25%), and employee commuting (19%).

In 2007, the company completed several projects to help reduce energy usage at its facilities worldwide. Light-fixture upgrades were installed at its headquarters, which are expected to reduce annual electricity use at the site by about 115,000 kilowatt-hours and reduce GHG emissions by more than 40 metric tons of CO2. The reduction is expected to save the company $20,000 annually with costs expected to be recuperated in less than two years.

During late 2006 and early 2007, the company implemented a server virtualization and consolidation project at a U.S. data center. The project decreased peak energy demand by 13 percent and realized estimated ongoing annual savings of about 326,000 kilowatt-hours. The company is now targeting 40 percent virtualization of Microsoft Windows servers in one of its U.S. data centers by the end of January 2009.

Autodesk purchased 108 megawatt-hours of renewable energy credits in 2007, representing about 0.3 percent of its global electricity usage. The company plans to increase its purchases to about 1,300 megawatt-hours in 2008, about 4 percent of expected yearly usage. The company has committed to purchasing 1,220 megawatt-hours in 2009.

Earlier this month, the company teamed up with Sustainable Minds to develop software and information services for Autodesk’s digital prototyping solution.

In February, the company acquired two energy analysis software companies -Green Building Studio, and Carmel Software Corporation.

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