It’s a day that’s intended to raise awareness about the impact that we are all having on the planet and how, with just a little bit of effort, each of us can help lighten the load on Mother Earth.

At Broadcom offices from Singapore to San Jose and, of course, our Irvine, Calif., headquarters, employees took part in activities today to help raise awareness for Earth Day, including posing for some fun “wear green” photos ops for the company blog and Facebook photo album. More importantly, they represented a company that is renewing its commitment to explore ways – large and small – to be a good steward of the planet.

The annual Earth Day celebration is a global event that began in 1970 with 20 million Americans holding coast-to-coast rallies to raise awareness about human impact an the environment. For Broadcom and its employees, it’s an annual celebration and reflection of the efforts that we – as a global company – making to help lessen our impact.

At Broadcom’s Earth Day events last year, employees in our San Jose, San Diego and Irvine, Calif. offices recycled more than 17,000 pounds of e-waste, such as unwanted computer towers, old cathode ray tube TVs and computer monitors. It’s still too early to know how much e-waste was collected at this year’s events, especially since the e-recycling events expanded to locations in China, India, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and Singapore.

For Broadcom, the commitment to reducing its impact on the environment is more than just an annual event. At every turn - from our offices to our chip designs – employees are helping save the planet in their daily routines. Consider that:

• More than 70 percent of waste from company headquarters — including paper, bottles and cans — is sent to offsite recycling prior to final disposal.
• Some locations provide on-site amenities such as cafes, fitness facilities, dry cleaning and car-detailing to help keep cars off the road and reduce transportation-related emissions.
• On-site cafes host earth-friendly promotions such as local farmer and sustainability events.
• Energy consumption is minimized through the use of Energy Star-compliant equipment, motion-detection lighting, reclaimed water for irrigation and environmentally-friendly restroom supplies.
• The shift to paper cups for beverages and soups throughout our North America locations will eliminate the use of nearly 1 million Styrofoam cups.
• Used pens in many offices are collected for recycling to benefit Science Buddies, a nonprofit group that helps students build literacy in science and technology.

Broadcom is a participant in the Carbon Disclosure Project, an independent, not-for-profit organization that holds the largest database of corporate climate change information in the world. The company has released its first Corporate Social Responsibility Scorecard, as a measure Broadcom’s global citizenship activities. Finally, Broadcom complies with policies and principals for environmental management systems, preferred procurement and waste reduction, and for removing or reducing lead (Pb) and other potentially hazardous materials from all of our products.

The Earth Day Network, a nonprofit group that organizes the yearly event, is focusing its efforts this year around a photo campaign depicting the “faces of climate change.” The organization is encouraging people around the world to upload photos depicting the theme and spreading the word on Twitter, using the hashtag #faceofclimate.

Related:

• Broadcom at Interop: Energy Efficient Ethernet is Good for the Planet
• Broadcom Employees Celebrate Earth Day
• Practicing Earth Day Principles Every Day
• Saving the Earth: 20 Ways to do Your Part
• Did you know…? For Earth Day, Raising Awareness is the First Step
• Helping the Environment through Energy-Efficient Product Design

Environmentally friendly alternatives like electric vehicles, eco-friendly modular homes, and alternative energy sources are in a race for sustainability as we attempt to slow down the cumulative effects of pollution, the thirst for technology and its demands on power consumption.

Technology can be one of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions with people’s dependence on computers and mobile devices taxing data centers and the networks connecting them. It’s a complex equation: How do we balance performance and power with energy needs and resource demands?

Greening technologies across the data center has become an industry itself, with a report from research analyst group Pike Research showing that the worldwide market for green data centers are set to grow to $45 billion in 2016, up from $17 billion in 2012.

To help demystify the process for organizations embarking on data center transformation, The Green Grid created an Academy Course for its Data Center Maturity Model that trains data center managers and non-IT professionals on how to measure a data center’s energy efficiency.

Broadcom is a longtime member of the Green Grid organization, which educates and informs companies on sustainable practices in the IT and communications industries. Its energy efficient networking technologies effect change well beyond the data center through lowering operating power of network equipment from 70 percent to 95 percent during periods of low link utilization.

I’ve written about the importance of power consumption in the data center and Broadcom’s efforts to “green up” the technology we all depend on. But what’s the payoff?

For starters: Lowering data center power use translates to potential savings of CO₂ emissions up to 3.5 million metric tons (based on ~5 TWh/year) and the following equivalencies according to estimates from the Environmental Protection Agency. The stats outlined below are based on the full deployment of energy efficient Ethernet on a population of links equal to those in use today, assuming all 10/100 links become 1G and account for some migration of data center links to 10G speeds.

Check out this infographic that quantifies just how much green IT can change the world:

  Related:

• Demystifying the Data Center, Part 1: Power Consumption Matters
• VMworld Preview: How the Cloud is Reshaping Data Centers
• Broadcom at Interop: Energy Efficient Ethernet is Good for the Planet
• Broadcom at Interop: Power Consumption Technology Plays Important Role

With spiraling energy costs and increased demand for computing power comes a heightened focus on “greening” the data center. The topic has attracted even more attention of late after the recent New York Times investigation and multipart series about the impact of the cloud on the environment.

In an effort to enlighten the public on the true cost of constant iPhone use, Facebook-scrolling and Internet-surfing habits – including tallying the environmental toll exacted by the  data centers run by Yahoo, Google, Apple and other Internet titans – the Times conducted a year-long investigation into the power consumption of data centers.

One of the most striking results of the study, which tapped the data-crunching prowess of McKinsey & Company, found that “data centers can waste 90 percent or more of the electricity they pull off of the grid.”

The Times reported:

 Most data centers, by design, consume vast amounts of energy in an incongruously wasteful manner, interviews and documents show. Online companies typically run their facilities at maximum capacity around the clock, whatever the demand.

Though the report has received a fair amount of attention (both good and bad), the crux of the articles should not be ignored. Data center managers, enterprises and the people who depend on them should be aware of the dangers of rapidly escalating power consumption.

Broadcom and the Big Picture

That’s where Broadcom comes in. Aside from considering the inefficiencies of active vs. idle technologies, we take a holistic view of the data center to determine mechanisms for keeping power consumption low while maintaining maximum efficiency.

Take this finding from the Times’ study: On average, servers only actually used 6 to 12 percent of their electricity. The remaining power was used to keep the servers idling and ready for activity. From Broadcom’s perspective, servers and computers  aren’t the only guilty parties for  abusing power in the data center. The network is also a key contributor to power consumption. A broader view of the data center’s elements – from storage to networking to compute – is critical for gaining a comprehensive view of the contributing sources in the data center.

Energy Efficient Networking

Broadcom spends a lot of research and development efforts around energy efficient networking technologies that moderate energy usage allow networks to maintain proper proportions. By leaving the low-power state when there is data to be transmitted, savings can be dynamic, switch times in and out of the low-power state are quick and deployment and management is automated.

 Broadcom has long been a contributing member to the Green Grid and the Climate Savers Computing Initiative, which merged this past summer in an effort to speed implementation of sustainable practices in the IT and communications industries. Most recently, Broadcom extended its Energy Efficient Ethernet portfolio with the launch of BCM54210E, the world’s smallest footprint, lowest power single Gigabit PHY featuring AutoGrEEEn Plus technology that lowers operating power up to 70 percent. AutoGrEEEn Plus expands energy saving throughout the network by automatically reducing the power consumption of the device when there is no active data transmission.

As organizations look to “green up” their data centers, the role of the network in maintaining reasonable power consumption levels remains crucial. Network equipment of all types can benefit from lower power consumption, which reduces energy costs and lowers overall operating costs for IT organizations. Expect Broadcom to be at the forefront of energy-efficiency innovations, with products integrating features deep into the physical layer to more comprehensively and effectively meet demands imposed by mobile and consumer applications.

We’re excited to be in Las Vegas this week for the Interop show, where we’ll be showcasing the full line-up of our latest innovations enabling the next generation Data Center, Green IT and Enterprise 2.0. Visitors to our booth on the main show floor will get an up close and personal demonstration of our amazing technologies in action.

Terabit Anyone? In the Data Center area of our booth you will find our new 100GbE BCM88650 switch and BCM87550 fabric, enabling terabit connectivity from the edge to the core of the network. Also on display will be our latest PHYs: our 10GBASE-T PHYs, providing up to 50 percent lower power consumption and our 100GbE Gearbox PHYs, the industry’s first to support 10GbE, 40GbE and 100GbE line interfaces.

Need to keep it green? Our newest additions to our ever-expanding Energy Efficient Ethernet (EEE) portfolio offer power reduction of up to 70 percent per port.

For those curious to see how the NetLogic portfolio fits into our overall solution post-acquisition, the complete portfolio of Broadcom knowledge based and multi-core processors will be on display.

Weary IT and network managers looking to make their lives just a bit easier should check out our Enterprise 2.0 innovations, including the recently announced BCM56545 series with App-IQ technology, which provides network managers with the tools they need to analyze and regulate web application traffic to ensure employee productivity.

And if all of that weren’t enough to keep us hopping, we’re thrilled to be a finalist in the Best of Interop awards for our 5G WiFi 802.11ac solution, providing on-the-go gigabit technology for the mobile workforce.

We look forward to seeing you in our booth at Interop Las Vegas! In the interim, you can find our full lineup of news from the show by following us on Twitter or visiting our website.

Full Coverage: Broadcom at Interop 2012

• Broadcom at Interop: Power Consumption Technology Plays Important Role
• Broadcom at Interop: Energy Efficient Ethernet is Good for the Planet
• Technology Moving at the Speed of Life: Broadcom Enables Massive Network Scalability
• Enterprise 2.0: Broadcom puts Network Managers in the Fast Lane
• Broadcom at Interop: Next-Generation Data Centers Shift into High Gear

Editor’s Note: This post is part of our ongoing “Executive Perspective” series for Broadcom. It was authored by Neil Y. Kim, Executive Vice President of Operations and Central Engineering for Broadcom. It was scheduled for April to highlight Earth Day and Broadcom’s commitment to environment-friendly technology. The original post is available in PDF format.

Broadcom was founded 20 years ago with the vision of Connecting everything through innovative semiconductor solutions that let people communicate at home, at work and on the go. From our early days to our emergence as a Fortune 500 company, we’ve always made sure that our technology uses environmental resources responsibly.

Broadcom’s commitment to social responsibility is demonstrated in part through its commitment to eco-friendly product design. By providing solutions that help customers realize their own sustainability goals, Broadcom serves as a steward of the environment worldwide.

The Energy Challenge

Energy conservation and the development of energy-efficient IT products are critical challenges. Estimates show that more than 150 million metric tons of carbon dioxide are produced each year to power IT equipment. This represents about 10 percent of overall electricity demand, or $16 billion annually worldwide.

This is a weighty expense to the environment and to the global economy. What’s even more alarming is that almost half of that energy is wasted by “always on” electronics that lack adequate power management capabilities. Industry trends suggest even more IT systems will be left on 24 hours a day, including business servers and network printers.

In the last few years, “always on” systems have contributed to a steady increase in IT-related carbon dioxide emissions worldwide, and “business-as-usual” scenarios project a 130 percent rise in carbon dioxide emissions by 2050.

Focus on Energy-Efficient Design

Broadcom’s long-standing initiatives for greener products and designs contribute to saving energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions for the company and its customers. Broadcom’s highly-integrated combo chip solutions, for example, reduce power consumption by powering entire systems down to minimum function when not in use, rather than allowing multiple functions to operate separately and continuously.

Through their experience in low-power system and network-chip design, several Broadcom employees hold leadership roles in organizations focused on green IT and networking technologies, including IEEE 802.3 Ethernet Working Group, helping to define environmental compliance requirements and energy-saving technical standards used throughout the industry.

Engineering Energy Efficiency at Work

As an industry leader in the design of energy-efficient communications technology, Broadcom benefits by applying this technology right on our own campuses. Energy-efficient network technology improves our bottom line by reducing our own IT-related energy use and operating costs—the same benefits we deliver to our customers and the environment.

“To achieve a meaningful impact on energy consumption, Broadcom believes that the products it makes should meet or improve upon current standards for energy savings. We are constantly developing crucial energy-saving technology.”

For example, Broadcom embraced the IEEE 802.3az Energy Efficient Ethernet (EEE) standard and then improved upon it by adding control policy and hardware and software subsystems. The complete subsystem provides enhanced energy savings and faster time to market for system makers. For many network providers, the cost of upgrading to achieve sustainability goals can be daunting. Broadcom’s proprietary AutoGrEEEn™ technology can help. By implementing this technology directly into our network PHYs, we can deliver EEE-compliance to any interfacing network equipment, even legacy devices, reducing power consumption by more than 70 percent per port.

When you put these and other technologies from Broadcom together, we can help to reduce power consumption in IT systems by up to 95 percent, which, according to the University of South Florida, translates to an annual carbon dioxide reduction in the U.S. alone of up to 2.85 million metric tons.

That’s a lot of savings. In fact, 2.85 million metric tons is the equivalent powering 314,000 homes for one year, or taking 495,000 passenger vehicles off the road all year.

Green Connected Home

Broadcom is committed to delivering similar savings to everyday households as well.

In the Living Room: Broadcom’s set-top box technology contains dynamic power management capabilities that can shut down unused system components in real-time. Even in the lowest power modes, technology remains aware of network events both in the home and from broadband servers, providing instant response to network and user input. These deep sleep modes significantly reduce standby power consumption, delivering energy savings directly to consumers. The latest set-top box designs also feature Broadcom’s Full-Band Capture (FBC) digital tuning technology that reduces active power consumption by more than 50 percent. Broadcom’s set-top box technology also supports innovative home networking devices to provide a whole-home connected entertainment environment. By coupling a central video media server set-top box with low-power compact client set-top boxes, consumers benefit from reduced energy use and increased power savings while enjoying services like multi-room DVR.

In Your Appliances: Everything in the home is becoming more connected, including the thermostat. Broadcom’s new Wireless Internet Connectivity for Embedded Devices (WICED) platform (pronounced “wik-id”) empowers homeowners by making it easier to monitor and control energy use in appliances like washing machines, dishwashers and air conditioners. The WICED platform delivers simple Wi-Fi connectivity to almost any consumer device with a processor—even those with no traditional networking support. Because of their low power and small size, WICED solutions can also be integrated with sensors and monitors to enable remote and cloud-based monitoring of appliances, electronics, healthcare, fitness, security and whole-house energy usage. In fact, the universe of possible devices that could benefit from WICED-based wireless connectivity is as varied as the imaginations of consumer product engineers.

Commitment to the Future

At Broadcom, we take environmental responsibility seriously and put our commitment into action through power-saving products and sustainable corporate environments. We support, and in many cases lead in the development of standards for energy-efficient design, and we work with partners and customers to ensure these benefits are maintained at every stage of product development. We believe our commitment to developing energy-efficient semiconductor solutions is a key technology to creating an environmentally responsible future for all.

Facts and Stats

• ITU World Summit on Information Society states that electricity demand by the networking sector for industrialized countries is between 5 and 10 percent of total electricity demand. About 50 percent of this electricity is wasted by equipment that is powered on, but idle. The problem may worsen as more systems, from cloud computing and data center servers to home set-top boxes, are left on continuously.
• A study by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) shows that DVRs, cable set-top boxes, and other pay-TV boxes are electricity hogs. These devices “cost American consumers $3 billion a year—$1 billion to operate when in active use and an additional $2 billion while inactive but still running at near full power.”
• According to the International Energy Agency, consumer’s appetite for electricity is expected to double over the next decade to 30 percent of residential consumption worldwide

More Earth Day coverage:

• Did you know…? For Earth Day, Raising Awareness is the First Step
• Saving the Earth: 20 ways to do your part.
• Practicing Earth Day Principles Every Day