特别报道：微软对阵Google 谁更绿色环保？
作者： CNET科技资讯网 翻译：李海
CNETNews.com.cn 2006-06-07 08:51 AM
Google的Mountain View总部43号大楼，仿实木楼梯地板，墙壁当中使用了无毒的绵质隔音材料
Google园区原属SGI，这是当年留下的工作区域，Google将其改造成为了阁楼风格的办公室
Google的43号楼，办公室明亮通风，办公家具使用天然木质材料，可以循环再生使用
Google的43号大楼，通风效果一流
Google 43号大楼里面的帐篷办公室的原型
Google总部中的电动滑板车和自行车，这使得这里象大学校园，而不是办公场所
Google员工可以带着自己的狗狗上班，Google表示这可以让员工身心愉快
Google总部开往其它城市的公交车，内有无线互联网接入装置
微软Mountain View 大楼楼顶的太阳能面板
微软Mountain View 办公室内的植物，地毯中含有可循环再生的材料
微软Mountain View 办公大楼外的喷泉雕塑墙
微软Mountain View 办公大楼外的露天休息区
微软Mountain View 办公大楼外的免费公交车
CNET科技资讯网6月7日国际报道 当Google和微软进行争夺互联网用户的战斗时，一个新的问题浮出水面：谁能更好的拯救我们的地球？
作为门户网站以及搜索引擎，由于要让自己的数据中心运行，冷却，两家公司都是耗电大户。当被问及如何改善其数据中心的效率，降低耗电时，Google和微软都没有给出答案。
无疑，Google和微软，这两个世界上首屈一指的网站使用了大量的电力去维持，冷却其数据中心。虽然如此，它们却都是美国企业当中采用了所谓绿色政策的公司。
为购买Priuses 混合动力轿车提供津贴？买单。购买太阳能面板？买单。公司食堂购买无激素的鸡肉？买单。两家公司还积极参与Sierra Club 环保团体的活动。
Sierra Club 俱乐部全球变暖项目的协调人Stan Van Velsor 说：“任何寻求更有效的降低来源消耗，让机构更富人性化，产品的毒害更小，更有环保意识的企业都正在采取积极的步骤，让自己与环境和谐一致的共处。”
那么，谁更绿色呢？这个问题似乎不可能有一个定论，两家公司似乎都制定了环保优先的政策。
微软供电设施部门的经理George Koshy表示，4 月的地球日，微软在加州的Mountain View 总部大楼楼顶安装了2 千多片太阳能电池板，总面积超过了3 万平方米。这些太阳能面板可能是硅谷地区最大的一个太阳能系统，在用电高峰时刻，它能够产生480 千瓦的电力，这些电量可以给5 百个家庭提供能源，目前，微软总部15% 的电力由这套太阳能发电系统供给。
Van Velsor认为，安装太阳能系统是帮助应对电力需求，降低温室气体的一个“极好途径”。
微软还参与到了降低二氧化碳排放的环保运动中，公司答应帮助员工计算其日常的二氧化碳排放量。
另外，微软主席比尔盖茨该赞助了Cascade 投资公司，这家公司已经投资了8400万美元给Pacific Ethanol 让其开发谷类制造乙醇的方法，如果成功，这种乙醇将和汽油混合，给汽车提供动力。
Velsor表示，每个公司都能够用让员工远离汽车的方式让地球更环保。在西雅图地区，微软为它的3.5 万名员工提供了免费公共交通工具，在硅谷，微软为1500名员工提供了公共汽车津贴，另外，在火车站与办公室之间，微软还提供了免费的往返汽车。如果微软员工购买气电混合型汽车，微软还会提供补贴，在各大主要的园区，微软已经启用了丰田的Priuses 混合动力汽车作为交通工具。
微软首席环境律师Joan Krajewski透露，2005年，微软被美国环境保护机构授予最适宜员工往返的工作场地。
微软有超过1.1 万的员工往返于总部雷蒙德与华盛顿之间，各个工作园区的人员运输也已经实现环保化，比如使用公共汽车，自行车与共乘（Car pool）。
微软的硅谷园区建于1999年，园区的负责人John Matheny说，内部照明设备均配有人走即灭及运动感应装置，另外，大楼的地毯和门都选择了可循环使用的材料，景观美化也使用了耐旱的植物。
Krajewski 说，微软工作园区采用了一套先进的冲洗管理系统，它会根据天气的变化调节供水量，这套系统每年能够节水1100万加仑。微软使用的纸张当中，至少包含了三分之一的可循环利用材料，因此，雷蒙德总部每月就能够回收129 吨再生物质。
微软拥有美国绿色建筑委员会颁发的LEED项目银奖证书。微软还与“碳释放项目”进行了合作。
微软还在软件包装上做文章，公司已经不使用聚氯乙烯PVC 材料包装软件，有研究发现，聚氯乙烯会释放有害物质，从而导致癌症，损害人们的免疫及再生系统。
微软还致力于废旧电脑的回收工作，公司也在和电脑制造厂家合作，使用不会危害环境的电脑材质。
Krajewski 说：“我们在土豆皮上做试验，我们也在寻找别的环保材料，比如玉米淀粉以及糖。”
Google的环保行动显得更加的低调。比如，Google的5 个食堂采购无激素的鸡肉，采购自由放养的牛和鸡。
上月，Google推出了绿色暑假的旅游信息服务网站。
Google的创始人Sergey Brin 与Larry Page也已经投资了太阳能系统，但Google没有透露具体的细节。另外，Google也没有拿它的顾问，前副总统，资深的环保活动家Al Gore 大做文章。
Google为员工提供免费的公共汽车。公司还为那些不选择汽车上下班的员工提供津贴，象步行，自行车或者搭乘公共汽车。
Google工作园区的环境更象是大学的林荫街，而不是办公场所，员工骑着自行车，或者溜着电动滑板车穿行于葱郁的草坪与道路之间。每个季度，Google会提供一天的“自行车医生”时间，专门给员工维修自行车。
Google的员工购买Prius 或者本田的Civic 混合型汽车的话，公司将补贴其5 千美元。
Google非常重视空气和水的品质。比如公司大楼的主管George Salah就要负责“嗅觉测试”。
Salah 将一本杂志从一张休息室的桌子上取过来，送到记者的鼻子跟前，说：“这确实关系到员工的健康。如果你能够闻到化学物质的气息，那么你买的东西可能对你不好。”
绿色的人造皮革沙发是由可再生的材料制成，地毯是可回收，可再生利用的，楼梯是由仿原木材料制成的，墙壁的粉刷采用低挥发性的有机油漆，Google的一些房间使用了蓝色可再生的隔音材料，大部分的房间配有绿色植物。Google的椅子使用了92% 的可循环利用材料。
Google的空调系统使用90% 的室外空气，它们从附近的海湾来，通过大楼外部的化学过滤器进入公司内部。
Salah 说：“我们试图创造一个高品质的工作空间。”
如果过滤系统无法阻止病菌的进入，那么Google公司的驻场医生，按摩师，营养师，瑜伽教练以及排球室能够让员工不生病。水系统使用了逆渗透过滤器，这种系统出来的水的质量甚至比运动型饮料瓶中的水质还好。
尽管Google办公大楼当中的一些洗手间具有马桶加热以及坐浴功能，但大部分的厕所都非常的节水节电。
照明系统是节电型的，大量使用的落地窗使得许多的房间一整天不需要开灯。
Sierra Club 俱乐部的Van Velsor说：“他们正在打造一个人性化的室内环境。”
以饭菜可口闻名的Google公司食堂也引入了环保措施。
Google服务经理John Dickman说：“我们烹饪时尽可能少放油，不使用能够致癌的硝酸盐及亚硝酸盐佐料。”
和微软一样，Google也积极参与循环降解项目的活动，Mountain View 市已将Google列为循环再生以及混合肥料的试验基地。
3 月，Google食堂专门抽出一天的时间，这一天供应的所有食物均来自公司150 公里以内农场。当天，食堂的剩菜剩饭为零，外卖的餐具，杯子以及器具均是可以降解的。Google食堂的烤箱是节电型的，它使用电脑调节温度与烹饪时间。
另外，为Google食堂配送食品的当地供应商使用了一辆环保型油料车，它可以直接使用Google食堂油炸过的油料做动力。
Van Velsor说：“如果你从智利或者佛罗里达那么远的地方运送食物的话，它将是非常漫长的路程，在这一过程中，运送食物的车辆会释放出很多的温室气体。”
Microsoft vs. Google: Who’s greener?
By Elinor Mills
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Published: June 6, 2006, 4:00 AM PDT
As Google and Microsoft battle for the hearts and minds of Internet users, a new question has cropped up: Which one can better save planet Earth?
Being portals and search engines, the companies are likely among the worst energy users because of the cooling and energy their data centers need to operate. When asked, company representatives did not say what, if anything, the data centers are doing to improve efficiency and reduce energy.
No doubt, Google and Microsoft, two of the top Internet sites in the world, use massive amounts of electricity to power and cool their data centers. But outside of the electricity that makes the businesses run, they are among the leading adopters of so-called green policies in corporate America.
Subsidies for buying Priuses? Check. Solar panels? Check. Hormone-free chicken in the corporate cafeteria? Check. Between them, they’re doing a variety of things to try to make the Sierra Club, organic farmers and Al Gore proud.
"Any organization that looks at a way to become more efficient and reduce its energy consumption and emissions and makes facilities more human friendly and less toxic and more resource-conscious from the standpoint of sustainability is taking positive steps toward living in the environment in a more compatible way," said Stan Van Velsor, global warming program coordinator for environmental group Sierra Club’s Loma Prieta Chapter office in Palo Alto, Calif.
So who is the greenest of them all? While it’s nearly impossible to make a judgment, both tech titans seem to have made Earth-friendly policies a priority.
Microsoft’s credentials
Microsoft made a big splash when it installed more than 2,000 solar panels across more than 30,000 square feet on top of its Mountain View, Calif., campus on Earth Day in April. The panels, believed to be part of the largest solar power system in Silicon Valley, generate 480 kilowatts of power at peak capacity–enough energy to power 500 homes–and provide about 15 percent of the campus’s total energy, said George Koshy, facilities manager. For the rainy Seattle area, where the company’s headquarters is located, solar is not a feasible alternative, he said.
Installing solar power is an "excellent way" to help reduce the demand for electricity and thus curb greenhouse gas emissions created by the generation of that electricity, Van Velsor said.
Microsoft also has agreed to promote carbon-dioxide emission reduction among individual employees as part of the Cool It campaign, which helps people calculate their lifestyle’s carbon dioxide emissions, Van Velsor said.
In addition, Cascade Investment, a venture firm funded by Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, has invested $84 million in Pacific Ethanol, which manufactures a corn-derived ethanol that can be mixed with gas to power cars.
One of the most important things any company can do to promote earth-friendly practices is to get employees out of their cars, Van Velsor noted. Microsoft provides free mass-transit passes for its 35,000 employees in the Seattle area, subsidizes transit for its roughly 1,500 Silicon Valley employees, and offers free shuttles between train stations and offices, a Microsoft representative said. Employees get a discount when buying gas-electric hybrid cars, and Microsoft uses hybrid Toyota Priuses as shuttles on the main campus.
In 2005, Microsoft was recognized as one of the top five best workplaces for commuters by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said Joan Krajewski, chief environmental counsel for the company. More than 11,000 workers commute to the Redmond, Wash., main campus via some "green" method such as mass transit, bike or car pool.
Microsoft’s Silicon Valley campus, built in 1999, features dimmable and motion sensor-based lighting, carpets and doors that are made from recycled material (which can be recycled again), and drought-resistant landscaping, said site leader John Matheny.
An advanced irrigation management system on Microsoft’s campuses replenishes the water when it detects weather changes, reducing the annual water usage by 11 million gallons, Krajewski said. The copiers and printers use paper that contains at least one-third recycled content, and the Redmond campus alone recycles 129 tons of material a month, she said.
Microsoft has a silver certification level for the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED program for environmental design. Microsoft also works with the Carbon Disclosure Project to track kilowatts of usage.
Microsoft also had taken steps to reduce waste from the packaging of its software products and has eliminated from its packaging PVC (polyvinyl chloride), which some studies have shown to release dioxins that can cause cancer and harm the immune and reproductive systems.
The company also offers refurbishment programs that help organizations extend the life of older PCs and is working with manufacturing partners on ways to use materials that aren’t as damaging to the environment as plastic and metals.
"We’re doing tests on potato skins. Think of all those french fries out there," Krajewski said. "We’re also looking at different biodegradable materials, such as corn starch and sugar."
Google in the running
Google’s efforts are more low-key and esoteric. For instance, Google serves hormone-free chicken, beef from free-range cows and eggs from cage-free hens in its five cafeterias. Also, its first official mashup unveiled late last month is titled Summer of Green and has information about earth-friendly tourist destinations in the U.S.
Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page also have invested in solar power but company representatives declined to reveal more details on the executives’ personal activities. Top executives were not available for comment, a representative said. Meanwhile, the company is low key about the fact that former vice president and longtime environmental activist Al Gore is an advisor to the company.
Google provides free shuttle rides for its employees in the San Francisco Bay Area to and from its offices in Mountain View, which is not far from Microsoft’s Silicon Valley campus. The company also donates money to worker-chosen charities in exchange for employees getting to work by any means besides riding in cars. For instance, employees get points for walking, biking and taking public transportation.
All around the Google campus, which at times resembles a university mall more than an office complex, are bikes and electric scooters that workers use to get around the lush lawns and public right-of-way. A "bike doctor" offers free bike maintenance one day each quarter. Google also pays workers $5,000 toward the cost of new Prius or Honda Civic hybrid cars.
Google does not take its air and water quality lightly, either. For example, George Salah, director of facilities, goes by the "sniff test."
"It really is about people’s health," Salah said during a tour last week of Google’s "Green" Building 43. "Smell this," he instructed, snatching a magazine off a lobby table and brandishing it in front of this reporter’s face. "If you can smell chemicals in something you buy it’s probably not good for you," he said.
Green faux-leather couches are made from recycled material, the carpet is recycled and recyclable, and the staircases are made of sustainably forested wood. The walls were painted with low levels of volatile organic compounds, some of which are sound proofed with recycled blue jeans and most of which are accessorized with plants. Even some of the ergonomic Steelcase chairs are made from 92 percent recycled content and can eventually be used somewhere other than landfills.
The air-conditioning system uses 90 percent outside air that flushes fresh air from the nearby bay through the building and filters out particulates, as well as chemicals, Google said.
"We’re trying to create the highest-quality space possible for people," Salah said. "We are all subjected to low levels of toxins every day in our lives…If we accumulate it over the span of a lifetime, sooner or later it’s going to get you."
Whatever diseases the filter system can’t prevent, perhaps the on-site doctor, massage therapists, nutritionist, yoga classes and volleyball courts can. The water systems use a reverse osmosis filter that provides better tasting and healthier water than can be found in plastic-leeching sports bottles.
Although a few toilets have heated seats and bidet-like functions, most of the toilets and urinals are energy efficient and use minimal water. Much of the lighting is also energy efficient and the ubiquitous floor-to-ceiling glass means many rooms don’t need any electric light until it gets dark.
"They’re making the indoor environment more human friendly. There are toxins in materials that can cause indoor air pollution," said Sierra Club’s Van Velsor. "That’s an important thing for corporations to recognize, as well."
Google, whose free cafeteria food is infamously tasty, takes its earth-friendly practices into the kitchen.
"We cook with a minimum of oil, no (cancer causing agents) nitrate and nitrite, and (use) organic where it makes sense," said John Dickman, global food services manager.
Like Microsoft, Google recycles and composts. The city of Mountain View is using Google as a test site for a compost project that is expected to be citywide, Dickman said.
Among the campus’s five cafeterias is one opened in March called Cafe 150, which serves only ingredients from farms within 150 miles of the kitchen. The trash volume in the dining room is zero and all the to-go silverware, cups and containers are compostable, said Nate Keller, Cafe 150 executive chef. The ovens are economical, using computers to set temperatures and cooking times. One local supplier delivers goods in a biodiesel-based truck and fills it up with fat from the kitchen’s fryer, Keller said.
"If you transport food from Chile, or even Florida, that’s a significant distance and greenhouse gases are emitted in the transportation of that food," Van Velsor said.
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