Schneider Electric, global leader in the digital transformation of energy management and automation, unveiled a new framework to help companies understand the full environmental impact of enterprise data centers.

The framework, detailed in a whitepaper available for download here, includes a free Lifecycle CO2e TradeOff tool, the first of its kind for accurately estimating the total carbon footprint of data centers – including Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions.

By quantifying Scope 3 emissions from their value chain, organizations can measure their total carbon footprint, including outsourced IT services from cloud and colocation service providers. This Schneider Electric whitepaper takes a data-driven approach to helping data center operators identify and categorize emissions from operations and the supply chain, then prioritize efforts to make impactful carbon reductions.

Establishing and implementing a GHG framework that incorporates carbon counting and target setting while systematically reviewing company data and emission sources, is the foundation to creating an achievable reduction plan. Electricity generation, GHG emissions, and water consumption determine the carbon footprint and water footprint of data centers, including that of its suppliers.