The pair Networks Environmental Policy
At pair Networks we are determined to set the standard for sustainable business practices in our industry. Day in and day out, our environmental policies and beliefs are woven throughout our culture, guiding our decisions and business practices.
In addition to maintaining environmentally responsible business practices, we promote balanced and healthy living for our employees. In turn, we have the happiest and healthiest employees, that provide the best possible customer service. Our commitment to these ideals is better for the natural environment, great for our employees, and downright awesome for our customers.
Take a moment to look at the ways pair Networks tries to be a good steward of the Earth.
Carbon Neutral Business Operations Using 100% Renewable Energy
pair Networks has measured, reduced, and offset its company-wide carbon footprint.
As of August 1, 2007, all of pair Networks' operations, including datacenters, support operations, administrative facilities, and employee commutes & business travel are 100% Carbon Neutral. Plus, pair Networks is powered by 100% renewable energy.
What does Carbon Neutral mean? It means that we did a greenhouse gas inventory to better understand our carbon footprint and help us decide how to reduce and offset our impact. In addition to our energy efficiency and conservation plans, we are offsetting the carbon emissions generated company-wide by purchasing verified emission reductions (VERs) and renewable energy credits (RECs) from Renewable Choice Energy.
The projects that we are supporting help reduce harmful levels of carbon dioxide emissions throughout the World.
Our commitment has an annual environmental impact that is similar to:
- planting 30,919 mature trees or
- not driving over 7.5 million miles in an average car
By maintaining carbon neutral operations we help reduce our impact on climate change and help preserve natural resources.
Reduced Energy Consumption
We reduce energy consumption in our facilities in many different ways. We also reevaluate our energy consumption on a regular basis so we can improve on our conservation efforts.
Our internal development and testing servers are virtualized (used for multiple purposes) whenever possible, to reduce the total amount of hardware we use, reduce our energy consumption, and lower our cooling-load. Our workstations are chosen for their materials (low toxicity, low or no-emissions, and safe for recycling or disposal) and to have the lowest possible power consumption, during routine use.
Our workplace policies require employees to turn off the lights in areas that are not occupied; turn off and unplug devices that are not actively being used (such as mobile phone chargers or anything with a power adapter); allow idle workstations to enter sleep-mode, during the business day; and, at the end of an employee's shift, workstations are required to be shut off (when they won't be in use for a day or more). We also require employees to shut off computer monitors when they are not at their desks.
When it comes to our choice of workstation monitors, we only use low-power-consuming, flat-screen Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) and Light Emitting Diode (LED) monitors. Our monitors typically use up to 30% less power than their CRT counterparts, while also reducing our employees' eye-strain. Lowering the over-all heat load in the office is another benefit. That means happy eyes for the employees and less energy (and money) wasted on cooling. Plus, LCD and LED monitors contain fewer heavy metals such as lead and mercury than CRT monitors, which is much better for the environment, when the monitors reach the end of their life-cycle.
The office and meeting spaces within our facilities have large windows that not only afford exterior views, but let-in a great deal of natural light. Illuminating our workspaces with natural light, and only using energy efficient artificial lighting (LED, Compact Fluorescent Lighting (CFL), or low-wattage, standard fluorescent fixtures), when absolutely necessary, saves a significant amount of energy (and money). One must also consider the health benefits of all of that natural light (which is discussed in the Healthy Office Environment section).
Energy Efficient Web Hosting Servers
Our Web hosting servers use platinum-rated, fully-redundant power supplies. That means we offer the most energy efficient, highest quality, and most reliable server technology to our customers.
Our newest Web hosting servers occupy only one quarter of the space that most standard, rack-mounted servers occupy, and they generate significantly less heat. Individual components of the servers can be upgraded or replaced as needed, without having to replace the cases or power supplies. As a result, we can deploy more servers in less space, our datacenters require less cooling capacity, the life-cycle of our server hardware is greatly extended, and we save a significant amount of energy (and money) while offering the most reliable Web hosting services.
Healthy Office Environment
We have created a healthy, positive, and productive work environment for our employees.
During our most recent office renovations, we used earth-friendly materials such as cork flooring, recycled blue jean insulation, and biodegradable paints and other coatings that contained no Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs).
Our offices are cleaned with only non-toxic, natural and organic, allergen-free, cleaning products, which promotes good employee health and does not introduce dangerous chemicals into our indoor environment.
All workspaces have windows providing exterior views and plenty of natural sunlight. This allows our employees to maintain a visual (and emotional) connection with the natural environment, which promotes not only happiness and well-being, but a high level of productivity.
We have clean air inside our offices. We've placed lots and lots of plants in every area throughout our offices to improve the indoor air quality. We also have mechanical air filtration that keeps the air clean.
Our cafeteria is equipped with purified water dispensers. Ceramic mugs, glass drinking containers, and stainless steel flatware are available for all of our employees and guests to use. We strongly discourage the use of plastic cups, plastic flatware, plastic water bottles, or styrofoam.
USDA Organic fruit and fair trade tea and coffee are available every day to employees (for free) in our cafeteria. Many healthy alternatives to traditional snack foods are available in our vending machines. We also provide our entire staff with a lunch of delicious organic and natural foods, once per month (also for free).
We use our office space wisely. We use spaces for different purposes throughout the day, so we don't waste any square footage or cubic footage, which in-turn reduces costs and energy usage. For example, our conference center doubles as a yoga studio for our twice-weekly on-site yoga classes.
Recycling
Purchasing Choices
All of the paper products we purchase (paper towels, paper napkins, toilet tissue, note pads, and printer paper) are made from 100% recycled content and are fully recyclable and/or compostable (with the exception of the toilet paper, obviously (it's still compostable, but you wouldn't want to reuse or recycle it)). We also do our best to buy office products with 100% recycled content (including pens and other plastic and metal items). As a rule, we reduce wasteful use (viewing documents electronically, rather than printing them, etc.) and we only order new supplies when it's absolutely necessary (when supplies have almost run out, can't be reused, or are simply at the end of their life-cycle).
When we do place orders for new supplies, we order in batches, for all of the items that we need, in order to reduce packaging (and waste) as much as possible (so there's even less to recycle in the first place).
Company-Wide Recycling
We reduce waste via a company-wide recycling program. We recycle materials such as aluminum cans, glass, household batteries, paper, and plastic. Employees are welcome to bring these items into the office, from home, for recycling.
Hardware Reuse & Recycling
We reuse and repurpose servers, network gear, and workstations for as long as we reasonably can. Once a piece of equipment has reached the end of it's useful life, we donate parts or entire systems to various organizations. Any hardware that can be recycled is sent off for recycling. Any hardware that can't be reused or recycled is disposed of in an environmentally responsible way.
Earth-Friendly Employee Culture
We promote an earth-friendly and progressive culture in a variety of ways. We strive to promote balanced, healthy lives for every employee.
We offer our employees a supply of free USDA certified organic fruit in our cafeteria.
We offer a free membership to the regional Audubon Society, which allows our employees to learn more about environmental stewardship and experience Western Pennsylvania's natural environment first hand. Our employees also volunteer for events sponsored by the Audubon Society and other similar organizations.
Many of our employees do their part to help the environment by using public transportation, riding bikes, and taking hybrid & electric cars to work. And as mentioned previously, as a benefit of being employed at pair Networks, all employee commutes are factored in and included in our verified emission reductions purchase.
Employees are encouraged to go outside and walk around during the work day. The office space also has room to walk around indoors in bad weather. No one is stuck at their desk all day.
Our offices are located within walking distance of restaurants, coffee shops, a river walking & biking trail, a park, and a public library. This saves employees from having to use cars for midday food or errands.
We also offer free on-site yoga classes to all employees twice a week in our conference center.
We hold educational seminars throughout the year. In addition to seminars about our services and business operations, other topics include: financial planning, healthy lifestyles, nutrition, and energy conservation.
We support organizations that promote environmental stewardship, alternative transportation, conservation, education, energy efficiency, and community-building.
We encourage our employees to volunteer for community service organizations and compensate them (by way of our Volunteer Days Program) for their time away from work.
Every employee is entitled to thousands of dollars in supplemental compensation through our Quality of Life Fund, or Q-Fund as we call it. The Q-Fund is designed to encourage employees to lead balanced, healthy lives. In this unique program, employees are reimbursed for expenditures that improve the balance and quality of their lives, including: lease or purchase payments for alternative fuel vehicles, camping and sporting goods, bicycles, Energy Star rated appliances, LED lighting, solar panels, personal trainers and/or life coaches, memberships to cultural organizations, among many, many other things.
Reduced Emissions from Smarter Work Schedules
Employee work schedules are created with two goals in mind:
- providing our customers with the best service possible
- reducing our overall impact on the Earth
Schedules are set so that employees travel to and from work at off-peak hours (as in, not during 'rush hour'). Commuting to and from work on less crowded roads has the following positive impacts:
- reduced idling time during stop-and-go driving saves gas and cuts down on emissions
- shorter over-all commute times means less wasted time, lower stress, greater happiness, and higher productivity
- fewer cars on the road during a commute (and correspondingly fewer aggressive drivers) means safer and calmer commutes, whether on the bus, in a car, on a bike, or walking
We strongly encourage biking, public transportation, and walking as ways to get to and from work, and in employees' personal lives. We also provide covered, secured bike storage for employees who bike to work.
In addition, as a benefit of being employed at pair Networks, all employee commutes are factored-in and included in our Verified Emission Reductions purchase from Renewable Choice Energy.
Our Environmental Policy will keep evolving and improving.
Keep checking our Web site for updates.