infosys ranked leader for reducing carbon footprint

Indian IT bellwether Infosys became Environmental Tracking (ET) carbon ranking leader in 2013 for its greenhouse gas emissions and disclosure practices.

"As part of the selection process, the Environmental Investment Organisation (EIO), a London-based climate change and finance think-tank, ranked Infosys among top five of the 300 large firms it assessed for carbon footprint," the global software major said in a statement here Monday.

The company's carbon reduction projects include the first use of radiant cooling air-conditioning in a commercial building; utilising a new technique that involves circulating water in embedded pipes to chill rooms and reduce energy use.

The IT firm had also set up a 250-kilowatt (KW) solar plant on a campus at Jaipur in Rajasthan and a 125 KW solar photo voltaic plant at Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala.

"We have created an innovative way to notify employees leaving a building that they have left their computer on, and a system for them to remotely switch it off using their phone," Infosys co-founder and executive chairman S. Gopalakrishnan pointed out in the statement.

Similarly, rainwater harvesting in its sprawling 300-acre Mysore campus reduced fresh water consumption by 18 per cent in its first year, saving nearly 300 million litres.

Mysore is about 140 km from this tech hub.

"Sustainability has been our core value for several years. We strive to bring solutions to reduce carbon emissions. Focus on environmental innovation has created a new business opportunity for us. We are looking for ways to benefit our global clients through this expertise, providing sustainability services to them," Gopalakrishnan asserted.

EIO chief executive Sam Gill said while effective greenhouse gas emissions reporting was not an easy task, it was heartening to see some firms demonstrating it could be done.

"In light of 62 percent of companies in the ET Global 800 reporting incomplete data, any company ranking within the top ten in their respective region should be viewed as a pioneering leader, raising the bar for others around them," Gill observed.