It is interesting that this would come ‘across my desk’ today because I had an innovation meeting last night, mostly about thinking off the grid. By off grid, I am referring to innovation and technology that has nothing to do with computers or algorithms, but about smarter ways of doing business. Ways to cut costs other than displacing workers, more or less.
We spoke at length of solar technology, and its improved efficiency and dropping price. Although it is still not cheap, it is becoming more and more feasible. So this morning I read that Google is planning on building the largest solar powered office in the US.
Google said that it is set to begin building a rooftop solar-powered generation system at its Mountain View, California, headquarters capable of generating 1.6 megawatts of electricity, or enough to power about 1,000 homes. Reportedly, Google will rely on solar power to supply nearly a third of the electricity consumed by office workers at the one million square foot headquarters, excluding power consumed by data centers which power the web servers (If adsense servers went offline due to a solar-outage, I wouldn’t be very happy :0) ).
David Radcliffe, vice president of real estate at Google, declined to comment on the cost of the project or whether the solar generation equipment might pay for itself over time. “We wanted to dispel the myth that you can’t be both Green and profitable,” he said.
For more information, check out the washingtonpost.com.
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