Industry First Passive Optical LAN Carbon Reduction Calculator for Enterprise Network Connectivity

Tellabs announced the Information and Communication Technologies industry’s first carbon reduction calculator that estimates both embodied and operational carbon avoidance as a result of choosing Tellabs Optical Local Area Network for Smart Buildings and Internet of Things connectivity.

The green attribute of Passive Optical LAN is well documented, including consuming less space and materials in a building’s main data center room, vertical risers, horizontal pathways, and telecommunications rooms. Optical LANs are also known to have reduced energy consumption, more efficient Power over Ethernet delivery to subtended powered IoT devices, and a lower impact on building air conditioning. Tellabs’ new carbon calculator helps IT and Network professionals, as well as Architects and Engineers, approximate the embodied and operational carbon savings by modeling fiber-based Optical LAN and the equivalent traditional copper-based switched network design to assess each network’s environmental footprint using publicly available carbon data – namely, the EPA’s eGRID factors and critically reviewed Environmental Product Declarations.

In the use case of a new construction 34-story office building, encompassing 735,800 square feet, employing over 5,000 employees and connecting 11,500 Ethernet connections, the calculator gauged the total reduction (e.g., embodied CO2 1,103,882 + annual operational CO2 478,748 in pounds of CO2 equivalency) at 1,586,630 pounds of carbon equivalency avoidance resulting from a Passive Optical LAN design. That savings is equivalent to 720 metric tons of carbon sequestered, removing over 160 gasoline-powered passenger vehicles driven for one year, or eliminating 140 homes’ electricity use for one year (equivalency based on EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator).

“Now more than ever, businesses should take advantage of Optical LAN’s tangible gains towards sustainability initiatives by embracing its embodied and operational carbon savings,” said Rich Schroder, Tellabs President, and CEO. “Our innovative carbon reduction tool will drive industry-wide conversation about how IT and Networking professionals can contribute to corporate environmental goals.”

Source: Tellabs media announcement