Five Habits That Cut IT Energy Waste, Without Spending More

Sustainability often gets treated like a policy or a pledge. But real progress comes from concrete operational habits that IT teams can adopt directly and measure over time.

The urgency is growing. The International Energy Agency projects that global data center electricity consumption will more than double to around 945 TWh by 2030, with AI the most important driver of that growth. That makes efficiency not only a sustainability goal, but an operating requirement.

At Hitachi Vantara, our commitment to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across our global value chain by FY2040 is supported by near- and long-term science-based targets that have been independently validated by the Science Based Targets initiative, reinforcing the same principle: meaningful progress starts with measurable goals. But targets only matter when they translate into action. For IT leaders, that means turning ambition into everyday decisions around power, data, architecture and procurement.

Here are five practices teams can use to find waste, improve efficiency and connect sustainability efforts to measurable business outcomes.

Practice 1: Schedule and Place Workloads Around Power Availability

One practical approach is to adjust scheduling and location as needed in real time, rather than relying on fixed infrastructure. Certain training workloads can be shifted to different times or locations based on power availability or grid constraints. Where workloads allow, they can be placed where power is more readily available or infrastructure is under less strain. This means considering power availability alongside end-user location when making data center and workload decisions.

In addition, rack- and GPU-level telemetry can be used to correlate it against grid supply in real time. This enables companies to anticipate capacity constraints and make more informed decisions about when and where workloads run.

Making these decisions effectively requires better visibility across systems that have traditionally been managed separately, including energy, cooling, building and IT management. This allows data from energy management to be connected to data from the rack.

Practice 2: Tier Data by How It’s Actually Used

Not all data needs the same energy-intensive treatment. To cut energy waste, companies can match a storage tier to how often data is actually used. Data that’s rarely accessed doesn’t need to be in power-intensive, high-performance hot storage. Lower cost storage is appropriate for data that’s not used often.

This also applies to compute and storage in the rack itself. Data compression and other data-reduction techniques can reduce the amount of physical capacity required to store information and limit unnecessary data movement, helping organizations use infrastructure more efficiently. That matters because every unnecessary unit of storage carries both a financial and an environmental cost.

Practice 3: Apply Waste-Reduction Discipline to Data as Well As Storage

In lean manufacturing, eliminating waste is a formal four-step discipline: Identify value, eliminate waste, improve quality, reduce cost. IT teams should apply this to data. Determine what data adds value and remove non-value-adding data. Determine what data adds value, what needs to be retained, and what doesn't. Then reduce unnecessary collection and responsibly eliminate data that no longer serves a business or regulatory purpose.

Unused data isn't free. It creates costs and inefficiencies across egress, power, cooling, carbon, redundancy, governance and compliance. In addition, as companies increasingly rely on data for AI, data quality can become a competitive differentiator. More data isn't automatically better data.

Practice 4: Push Efficiency Down to the Architecture and Code Level

Hardware and cooling upgrades are often a focus for efficiency, but code and algorithms can also bring compounding efficiencies. Software should also be designed with resource efficiency in mind, reducing unnecessary compute and data movement wherever possible. This has a cascading effect. Smaller, fine-tuned models and more efficient architectures can also reduce unnecessary compute and data movement. The broader point is that sustainability can't be something we measure only after infrastructure is deployed; efficiency needs to be considered in how technology is designed.

Companies with both software and hardware can drive major efficiencies. SK Hynix, for example, is developing High Bandwidth Flash technology designed to address AI memory bottlenecks and improve overall system efficiency. Samsung has similarly introduced memory architectures that place memory closer to AI accelerators, shortening data paths and improving power efficiency.

Practice 5: Build Accountability Into Infrastructure Contracts

Another way to turn sustainability goals into measurable results is to build accountability into the contract itself. This means the customer doesn’t have to worry about the underlying technology and the individual pieces of the puzzle.

By providing clear measurable commitments in terms of uptime and availability as well as saving power savings compared to previous installations, this delivers business value and sustainability gains at once. This is the shift from CapEx and boxes to OpEx and SLA-driven contracts.

Hitachi Vantara’s Commitment to Sustainability

These five practices aim to get more use out of existing power. Many of them can begin without a major new capital investment or hardware refresh. However, they do require the active management of power, data, code and contracts to deliver measurable impact. For sustainability leaders, that also means working across functions. The decisions that drive emissions aren't made by sustainability teams alone—they're made every day across IT, procurement, facilities and the business.

At Hitachi Vantara, the purpose behind our decision-making is clear: to help our customers and partners succeed by delivering innovative, high-performing solutions that are designed for a more resilient and responsible future. Sustainability is integral to how Hitachi Vantara operates and supports long-term growth for customers and the business.

Learn more about Hitachi Vantara’s own sustainability strategy and commitments. Read the FY2025 Sustainability Report now.