Infosys

By Philip Haves

Corporate Goals and Initiatives

Key sustainability-related corporate goals are reduction in per capita carbon intensity and reduction in per capita fresh water consumption. Progress is evaluated on a semi-annual basis and the performance on these goals has a direct influence on the variable component of the remuneration of the Head of Infrastructure and Facilities.

The Green Initiatives team is responsible for environmental sustainability at Infosys. The performance indicators for the green initiative team are:

1. Reducing the per capita energy consumption (goal: 5% per year)

2. Reducing the per capita water consumption (goal: 5% per year)

3. Increasing renewable electricity

4. Increasing the recycling percentage of organic waste

5. Number of trees planted annually

Progress toward these goals has a direct impact on the individual performance ratings of the Green Initiatives team lead, which are evaluated semi-annually and have a direct influence on the variable component of his compensation and his annual increment. Per-employee energy use has been reduced by 44% in 2014 compared to 2008.

Infosys currently meets 30% of its electricity requirements from renewables. It has made a public commitment to meet 100% from renewables by 2018 and will be investing in about 175 MW of solar PV. This is a key part of its public commitment, made in 2012, to become carbon neutral by 2018.

Infosys's commitment to carbon neutrality by 2018 and to LEED Platinum standard for new construction applies to all 11 Infosys campuses in India. The current Energy Use Intensity (EUI) target is 24 kBtu/ft², compared to 80 kBtu/ft² for earlier buildings. Across all its 11 campuses in India, Infosys has cut electricity consumption per employee by 44% since 2008 and has reduced greenhouse emissions per employee by 61%, with a cumulative utility bill savings of $80M. All new buildings are designed to meet LEED Platinum standards, a total of 13 thus far.

Infosys has a three year simple payback requirement for retrofits. However, it has a number of chiller replacement projects for which the projected payback periods are in the range four to six years. It has a number of projects with projected payback periods of one to three years and less than one year.

Flagship Project: Infosys campus in Pocharam SEZ, Hyderabad, SDB1 Office Building

• Project type: new construction

• Address: Hyderabad, India [Map]

• Number of buildings: 8

• Floor area: ~2.4 Msf

• Occupants: ~16,000

• Site: 457 acres

• Summary Table

A key institutional innovation strategy is that the performance of each new building should be a significant improvement on that of its immediate predecessor - a process of learning from each new building. One example is the SDB1 office building, shown in Figure 1, in which the east wing has radiant slab cooling and the west wing has a variable-air-volume (VAV) system. There is very little east- and west-facing glazing, so the two halves are effectively thermally identical. The VAV system uses approximately half the energy for cooling and ventilating used by the earlier building but, for several years, the radiant slab system has used 1/3 less energy than the VAV system (Figure 2) (Sastry and Rumsey 2014). Occupant satisfaction with the working environment was assessed using an on-line survey developed by the UC Berkeley Center for the Built Environment, which showed significantly greater satisfaction with the radiant system than the VAV system. These energy and occupant satisfaction differences have led Infosys to standardize on radiant cooling for its future buildings.

Figure 1. The Pocharam SEZ Campus, Hyderabad.

One half has a VAV cooling system and the other half has a radiant slab cooling system,

which consistently uses 1/3 less energy than the VAV system (Sastry and Rumsey 2014).

Figure 2. Comparison of the energy use in the two halves of the SDB1 office building.

In spite of the internal gains being slightly higher, the cooling energy used by the radiant cooling system is 1/3 less than that used by the conventional VAV system (Sastry and Rumsey 2014).

Infosys assigns significant importance to thermal comfort, and efforts along those lines have manifested in improved outcomes in the SDB1 project (Figure 3). In addition to the benefits of hydronic cooling, task lighting and ceiling fans provide improved control to individual workers.

Figure 3. Results of an occupant comfort survey of the SDB1 office building

showing significantly greater satisfaction with the radiant system than the VAV system

(Sastry and Rumsey 2014).

Infosys has also ensured that there is effective daylighting in its new buildings. The window design shown in Figure 4 results in an operational lighting energy intensity of 0.17 W/ft² in SDB1 (Greensource 2012). Figure 5 shows a workstation in the same building. Infosys's design policy is for all workstations to be daylit.

Figure 4. Window detail, showing overhang / light shelf and translucent side fins.

Figure 5. Workstation adjacent to a window of the design shown in Figure 4.

As part of its policy of installing innovative technologies which have significant energy savings potential, Infosys has installed a chiller with magnetic bearings in its central plant, along with a system that injects sponge balls into the water entering the condenser to reduce fouling of the heat exchanger tubes. Both systems are performing to expectations.

Of the 457 acres of the site, approximately two thirds of has been left undeveloped, apart from earth works that form part of a water management system (Figure 4). The water management system has been implemented as part of Infosys' strategy towards water sustainability. One benefit that has already been observed is an increase in the height of the water table in the surrounding area, which benefits nearby villages by reducing the work required to pump water from wells. The undeveloped area also serves as a nature reserve, with an essentially undisturbed habitat for animal and plant life.

Figure 6. Earthworks for the water management system under construction.

In summary, Infosys has established an aggressive energy efficiency and sustainablity policy and is implementing it on a comprehensive scale at its eleven campuses in India. It has received numerous awards as a result, including a prestigious Ashden Award (Ashden 2015).

References

Ashden. 2015. http://www.ashden.org/winners/Infosys14

Greensource. 2012. "SDB1 Office Building." http://greensource.construction.com/green_building_projects/2012/1207-sdb1-office-building.asp

Sastry, G. and Rumsey, P. VAV vs. Radiant Side-by-Side Comparison. ASHRAE Journal, vol. 56, no. 5, May 2014. https://www.ashrae.org/resources--publications/periodicals/ashrae-journal/features/vav-vs--radiant-side-by-side-comparison