At Microsoft, we have a responsibility

and opportunity to help people and organizations

around the world to improve the environment.

Thisresponsibility begins with our very own organization. Sustainability is core to our business practices—from how we support our employees to make more sustainable choices, to how we operate, to how we continuously drive for better IT efficiency. In fact, Microsoft was named as one of the top green IT vendors by Computerworld for 2011.

Our commitment: To reduce our carbon emissions from our 2007 baseline by at least 30 percent per unit of revenue. We have achieved this through a combination of energy efficiency measures and an investment in high-quality externally verified renewable energy and carbon reduction projects. We voluntarily report our carbon impact through the Carbon Disclosure Project.

Empowering our people

Travel and commuting.
  • With a flexwork policy and unified communications and online collaboration tools, our employees can work from home effectively, helping cut back on daily commuting.
  • In Puget Sound, WA, employees can take the Connector bus to and from work—helping eliminate ~39,200 miles of travel each day or ~9.9 million miles per year. The campus also has 12 electric vehicle charging stations.
  • In Shanghai, we have bi-electric hybrid coaches to shuttle employees to and from work.
  • Other alternative commuting incentives include free public transport passes, subsidized van pools, and free bike storage and maintenance.
  • From mid-2011, CO2 emissions for all new Microsoft company carsmust average at most 130 g/km (by comparison, the average in Japan, the global leader, is 130.8g/km; in the United States, it’s 268.5 g/km).
Sustainability champions.
  • Volunteer sustainability “champions” promote sustainable work habits to their peers.
/ Waste and recycling.
  • Each month we recycle an average of 336.68 tons of materials at our Puget Sound Campus, including glass, plastic, aluminum, electronics, cardboard, paper, and organic waste. In fiscal year 2011, our total waste diversion rate was >80% overall and 95% for our dining facilities earning Microsoft recognition by Washington State Recyclers Association as the 2012 WSRA Recycler of the Year.
  • In the second half of 2011, we recycled or reused the equivalent of >3 million pounds (1.6 tons) of technology hardware in the United States. We’re expanding our zero landfill policy in the United States to other large sites outside the United States.
  • We have a full cafeteria recycling/composting program. By actively recycling and composting, our employees have cut waste from our Redmond, WA, cafeterias in half, with the goal of ultimately reaching zero waste.
  • Our Redmond campus uses 100 percent post-consumer paper.
  • Microsoft Hong Kong received the “Class of Good” Wastewi$e Label in the Hong Kong Awards for Environmental Excellence for its initiatives designed to reduce waste (including for paper, plastic and paper utensils, plastic bottles, fluorescent lights, old appliances, and office furniture).

Microsoft’s Environmental Footprint

Operating sustainably
Renewable energy.
  • We promote the use of renewable power in our facilities:
−Over 30% of the energy usedby our Redmond, WA, campus comes from hydroelectricity.
−Our Mountain View, CA, campus generates 480 kilowatts from 2,288 solar panels covering more than 31,000 square feet of rooftop, which equates to an annualized savings in energy consumption of ~6%.
−Microsoft UK purchases 100% renewable electricity for the main office in Thames Valley Park.
−100% of the power that our Quincy, WA, data center uses is hydropower from the Columbia River Basin.
−Investments in high-quality externally verified renewable energy and carbon reduction projects
Buildings and facilities.
  • Our new buildings are built to LEED standards, using~20% less energy than traditional buildings and more natural light, air cooling, lower-footprint energy, and less water.
  • A Microsoft building in Hyderabad, India, was the first IT building in India to receive LEED Gold certification.
  • We recently trialed smart building solutions in 13 buildings on our main campus to show how smart buildings can improve the bottom line and reduce environmental impacts. We’re preparing to extend the program to more buildings and expand the scope to include more advanced features.
  • We have the first US corporate campus to achieve Certified Green Restaurant™ status.
  • We send >1,000 gallons of used fryer oil to be converted into biodiesel each month.
  • We use organic fertilizers and smart irrigation management to conserve water.
Supply chain.
  • Our suppliers must sign and adhere to our Vendor Code of Conduct, which covers environmental compliance, and we have set policies on using suppliers based on social and environmental performance metrics.
  • We have a risk-based supplier audit program in place to address the risk of greenhouse gas emissions.
  • Our consumer electronics comply with or exceed environmental guidelines and regulations (for example, the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment [WEE] and Restriction of Hazardous Substances [RoHS]directives).
  • If Microsoft Volume Licensing subscribers were to choose Microsoft’s Digital by Choice electronic licensing service, they could potentially reduce 4,058 metric tons of CO2 (or 9,437 barrels of oil) from the atmosphere.
/ Improving IT efficiency
Data centers.
  • Our data center in Dublin, Ireland, uses outside air and air-side economizers to improve cooling efficiency. Although construction is ongoing, it is projected to be 50% more efficient than traditionally built facilities, and it recycles ~99% of its waste. It has been recognized by the European Commission Sustainable Energy Europe as a best practice in environmental sustainability.
  • Our Chicago, IL, data center uses water-side economizers to improve cooling efficiency, and our San Antonio, TX, data center uses recycled water for cooling.
  • We continue to work to reduce the Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of our new data center designs. Our goal by 2012 is to construct new data centers that average 1.125 in PUE (the industry average is currently 2; optimal energy use is 1).
Microsoft IT.
  • We saved 10 million kilowatt hours in PC/laptop power usage from fiscal year 2010 to fiscal year 2011—a reduction of >32% and the equivalent of removing 1,436 passenger vehicles from the road for one year—through power management and activity reporting.
  • Newly purchased IT hardware at Microsoft must be EPEAT registered and meet ENERGY STAR 5.0 standards. 95% of US client PCs now meet the standards.
  • OurRedmond Ridge 1 facilitymoved 429 labs across 507,000 square feet of space into one highly efficient data center that uses 27% less energy. The facility is reducing our carbon footprint by 12,000 metric tons per year and uses 90% less water than a similarly sized facility using air conditioning.
  • We have deployed ENERGY STAR–compliant printers and have a “print and hold” pilot in progress to reduce forgotten print jobs and paper waste.
Using our own technology.
  • We use Windows 7 and built-in power management features to reduce energy use across all computers.
  • By holding virtual meetings with unified communicationstechnology and online conferencing, our employees have helped eliminate the equivalent of 100 million miles of air travel each year. In 2011, increased use of our collaboration products and operational control measures helped us reduce our carbon footprint from travel by 29,000 metric tons.
  • Virtualization technology in Windows Server® 2008 helps reduce the number of physical servers—and the power they draw—in our datacenters.
  • Microsoft cloud servicesenable the company to achieve greater efficiency and reduced carbon emissions for certain business applications.
  • System Center Configuration Manager helps to ensure that our PCs use energy-saving power management settings and provides us with timely reports on energy use and carbon emissions across our global PC environment.