AReport on the

Sustainability of Microsoft Corporation

Submitted to
Prof. Sneha Thapliyal

In the partial fulfilment of Sustainability Course

On March 21, 2016

Submitted
by:
Aditi Jain
2015
PGP002
Introduction
Microsoft Corporation is Technology Company that is based in Redmond, Washington. It was
founded in 1935 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. Since then it has been on an expansion path
having offices in more than 100 countries in the world. Microsoft basically develops and
supports a host of hardware and software services. It is a world leader in the software and
hardware sector. It also provides best in class platform to fledgling companies to achieve more.
Since its inception, Microsoft has strived to create such an environment for the world at large
that people are capable to achieve their full potential through the use of technology.
Emancipation of every last person on the planet is the very principle of Microsoft.

Main products of Microsoft include servers, phones, operating systems for computing devices,
and other intelligent devices; server applications for distributed computing environments; cross-
device productivity applications; business solution applications; desktop and server management
tools; software development tools; video games; and online advertising. It also designs and sells
hardware including PCs, tablets, gaming and entertainment consoles, phones, other intelligent
devices, and related accessories. It offers cloud based solutions that provide customers with
software, services, platforms, and content. It also provides consulting and product and solution
support services, and we train and certify computer system integrators and developers.

As of 2015, Microsoft is market leader in both the IBM PC-compatible operating system
and office software suite markets (Microsoft Office). The company also produces scores of other
software for desktops and servers, and is active in areas including Internet search (with Bing),
the video game industry (with the Xbox, Xbox 360 and Xbox One consoles), the digital services
market (through MSN), and mobile phones (via the operating systems of Nokia's former
phones[10] and Windows Phone OS). In June 2012, Microsoft entered the personal computer
production market for the first time, with the launch of the Microsoft Surface, a line of tablet
computers.

With the acquisition of Nokia's devices and services division to form Microsoft Mobile Oy, the
company re-entered the smartphone hardware market, after its previous attempt, Microsoft Kin,
which resulted from their acquisition of Danger Inc.

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The story doesnt stop here, in 2015, Microsoft made significant progress on some other issues
too.

Taking a bold step towards environmental sustainability, it purchased more than 3 billion
kilowatt hours (kWh) of renewable energy (which is equal to 100 percent of our global
electricity use) and became the second largest user of green power in the U.S., according to
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

It became the first major cloud provider that was independently verified for meeting the
worlds first international standard for cloud privacy (called ISO/IEC 27018).

It was instrumental in launching new policies to ensure that their U.S. suppliers provide paid
leave to their employees who handle our work. This step shows the extent of Microsofts
commitment towards not only its own employees but also towards people remotely
associated with the company.

It promoted the welfare of youth by dint of its YouthSpark initiative that focuses on
education, employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for millions of young people
worldwide.

It donated more than $922 million in software and services to more than 120,000 non-profit
organizations around the world, which includes more than 1 million new Office 365 licenses
for non-profit workers and their strategic volunteers.

This is now the second year in a row, that it has surpassed $1 billion in total company annual
giving.

Towards Sustainability
According to UN Bruntland commission sustainable development is development that meets the
needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own
needs. Sustainability essentially means developing a consciousness among people that their
activities on earth today may have dire consequences for the future generations. Resources

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should be utilized in a judicious manner such that our needs are not fulfilled at the cost of the
needs of our future generations. Since our resources are finite and depleting at an alarming rate,
it depends on us that what kind of world we would like to leave for our children and
grandchildren. This duty is not limited to an individual only, as a company, that uses mother
earths resources for its survival, it owes her whatever green initiatives it can undertake to further
transfer the benefits.

Microsoft as a company has a firm belief that technology can transform lives in a big way. It also
has the potential to solve environmental problems at large. The thought that technology which
was earlier perceived to be useful for commercial purpose only can be instrumental in reducing
environmental issues, is unprecedented.

Microsoft sees it as its responsibility to create business value such that it causes less harm to
society and environment. Microsoft is taking significant steps in reducing the impact on the
environment caused by its operations, devices, datacenters etc. The steps taken in this direction is
to devise a corporate environmental strategy which is to Be Lean, Be Green, Be Accountable.

Be Lean by reducing operational energy use, water use, and waste.

Be Green by increasing its purchase of renewable energy and carbon offsets.
Be Accountable by quantifying the carbon impact of its operations and driving responsible
business decisions around energy use and air travel by:
Measuring our emissions.
Setting an internal price on carbon.
Charging a carbon fee to the teams responsible for those emissions.
Microsofts environmental strategy also includes a corporate carbon neutrality goal as well as
goals for specific areas of its business, ranging from datacenter efficiency to energy and waste
reduction at Microsoft campuses to the use of recycled content in packaging. Microsoft
employees receive the appropriate role-based environmental training and certifications as needed
for their jobs, such as training in chemical management for hardware lab employees and design
for environment training for packaging engineers.
Microsoft has taken energy efficiency quite seriously and has made significant progress in this
regard. All the new building that Microsoft holds has LEED standards which use 20% less
energy than traditional buildings. It is also redesigning its data centers to make it energy efficient
by using airside economizers and outside cooling which will significantly reduce its water and
electricity consumption. Through this initiative it has achieved the Power Usage Effectiveness

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(PUE) of 1.125 which is well below the industry standard of 1.7.Some of its other initiatives are
like the one implemented in pilot datacenter in Cheyenne, Wyoming, that will run completely
independently of the grid using energy generated from biogas, a byproduct of a nearby water
treatment plant.it has also pioneered a new concept to integrate fuel cells directly into server
racks, stripping out most of the infrastructure found in the traditional datacenter energy supply
chain, which it expects to effectively cut the energy use in half by eliminating transmission
losses and other inefficiencies.

Carbon Fee

Microsoft was one of the first organizations that introduced the concept of carbon fee in 2012. In
its model, understanding carbon footprint was the first priority. It tracked and analyzed its
emissions across all Microsoft operations in more than 100 countries and created a projection of
emissions for the coming year. It then added up the total cost of the environmental initiatives and
investments that it will take to get it to net zero carbon. The full cost of these environmental
initiatives and investments divided by its projected annual emissions provided it with its annual
price on carbon.

Using our carbon price, it then charges its business units a fee based on their projected emissions.
It has actually provided an incentive to all the business units to find low carbon, environmental
friendly alternatives to whatever processes they are performing by making the cost to achieve
carbon neutrality a line item in their operating budgets. It also encouraged them to invest in
carbon-saving initiatives and innovations. The initiative is met with astounding success. In the
first three years alone, Microsoft has reduced company-wide emissions by 7.5 million metric
tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (mtCO2e) through investments in efficiency, green power, and
carbon offset community projects. The funds collected through carbon fee are invested in
three primary ways to achieve net zero carbon viz. efficiency projects, renewable energy,
and carbon offset community projects. E-waste recycling, water stewardship, and
research for innovation are some other initiatives that are supported by these funds.

The Microsoft carbon fee was also recently recognized by the UNFCCC at COP21 as an

innovative carbon pricing model worthy of wider replication.

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As of March 16 2016, Microsoft is partnering to build solar facility in Remington. When
operational, the Remington facility will add 20 megawatts of solar energy onto the grid in
Virginia enough energy to power 5,000 homes by building a solar panel facility in
Remington.
Microsoft is going to receive renewable energy credits for its participation in the project. Its
investment will reduce the rate that the commonwealth will pay to buy the energy produced in
Remington. Microsoft previously announced agreements to purchase 175 MW of wind energy in
Illinois that fully powers its Chicago data center with wind energy, and 110 MW of wind energy
in Texas that powers its San Antonio data center.

This is Microsofts approach to eye technological innovation in order to achieve environmental

sustainability. It can provide long-term certainty needed to expand the amount of renewable
energy available on the grid. This partnership will help reduce Virginias carbon emissions and
diversify its energy portfolio. But the construction may cause pollution in its wake that might
offset the initiative .But that would be a small dent compared to the benefits it is going to offer in
near future.

References
http://www.fauquier.com/news/article/microsoft_partnering_to_build_solar_facility_in_remi
ngton
https://www.microsoft.com/about/csr/environment/
http://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2015/10/21/2015-citizenship-report-shows-how-microsoft-
is-making-a-difference/
http://www.sustain.ucla.edu/about-us/what-is-sustainability/
http://www.virginiabusiness.com/news/article/dominion-microsoft-partnering-with-state-on-
solar-energy-project

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