Environmental Solution Label

Utilization of ICT services can reduce the environmental footprint of society as a whole. To help communicate ICT's environmental contribution to its customers and drive its own environmental endeavors, the NTT Group established and launched operation of its own Environmental Solution Certification System in fiscal 2010.

Under this system, ICT solutions of group companies that reduce environmental impacts to a certain extent will be certified as ecofriendly solutions and given the system's label. To qualify for Environmental Solution Certification, a solution must demonstrate an environmental contribution equivalent to CO2 emissions reductions of more than 15% when subjected to quantitative evaluation.

We introduce certified solutions on the Environmental Solution Certification System section of our official website's NTT Group Environmental Protection Activities web page, along with details of our evaluation methods. In fiscal 2012, seven solutions received Environmental Solution Certification, bringing the current total of certified solutions to 19, following the four solutions certified in fiscal 2010, and eight in fiscal 2011.

Moving forward, we will seek to identify any issues in the operation of the system so far, and to further boost the number of certified solutions.

Switching from conventional alternating current (AC) power supply to high voltage direct current (HVDC) power supply is seen as a promising way to reduce power consumption in ICT fields.

HVDC power supply reduces the number of conversion stages from AC to DC power, thus reducing the losses involved in such power conversion, and enabling a reduction of about 15% in power consumption compared with AC power supply. It also helps to boost reliability by reducing failure rates, since it can be supplied to devices directly from batteries.

Because of these benefits, the NTT Group is making groupwide efforts to promote the deployment and spread of HVDC power supply systems, and as one such initiative, has been conducting research in the use of such systems to create greener data centers.

To boost the energy efficiency of data centers, we have conducted field tests at NTT DATA's Mitaka Building, participated in a Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications-funded research project, and tested experimental equipment at our laboratories and NTT FACILITIES, and have found that savings of 15-18% are feasible. The results of the Ministry-funded research will be used as core data by the Ministry in a proposal to be submitted as Japan's contribution to an international standardization organization with the aim of winning worldwide recognition for Japanese power supply systems and expanding the global market.

Based on the above achievements, in fiscal 2012, group companies and research laboratories began installing HVDC systems, and NTT FACILITIES started to offer them as products. With the both the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) and ITU-T standardizing 260-400 V as the voltage range for HVDC system interfaces, the conditions are also now in place for the global uptake of HVDC power supply technology.