Tech companies have a bazillion reasons to go green: insanely high energy outlays, stern environment regulations, the demand for bigger data centers to respond to growing business demands, Greenpeace chasing “un-eco-friendly” companies like crazy etc. In fact, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency predicts data center energy usage will double in the next five years which I personally consider to be the very reason why companies should resort to renewable power resources such as solar arrays, wind power, hydro power, fuel cells, and natural gas turbines.

The expenditures are not only attributed to the operation of data centers, but their cooling systems as well which will put pressure on energy costs and environmental concerns. Power outlay is expected to increase to 82 million by 2013.

Data center spatial expansions, mergers, and acquisitions demand for a more sophisticated and reliable infrastructure since physical conditions of storages directly affects its IT infrastructure performance. The rise of green infrastructure models is one of the efforts made to address the decline of green methods in solving these kinds of sustainability problems. It cuts back costs, eliminates operation glitches and provides long-term solution to future upsurges while not having to incur major expense in both monetary and environmental terms.

It’s understandable if some companies are a bit skeptic at investing on renewable power sources and having their their traditional power sources replaced. It’s not easy to gamble on such huge investment, especially at the risk of instability.However, the risk does not mean tech companies are not taking a step towards going green at all.

In fact, Microsoft has been very proud of its new modular data center design, as it reduces energy consumption. It also conserves energy by reducing the power of non-computing uses by 50 percent, plunging the usage to less than 10 percent. IBM, on the other hand, has been recycling IT equiments and gears for decades now through its programs called Global Assets Recovery Service. They refurbish and resell, or disassemble, sell and recycle the parts that’s about 1.3 million pounds-worth of IT gear on a weekly basis.

Dell is doing a similar initiative, diverting some 150 million pound of electronics in its 2011 fiscal year. Verizon is going green as well by implementing PolarPlex data center containment solution which directly tackles the cooling system, on top of it using solar arrays on 20 of its cell sites. PolarPlex data center containment solution separates hot and cold air for maximum ventilation.

On the latest, EMC implements Green Power Choice Program. It has The Hangout as its first participant to purchase 100 percent Green Energy. It enables both residential and business consumers to purchase renewable landfill of methane gas as a power source.