netElastic and the Environment
At netElastic, we have committed to a data-driven strategy to minimize our environmental impact, focusing on the unique footprint of a remote-first, software business.
Our Carbon Reduction Plan: 2026–2030
Our 2026 Baseline
Our current operations benefit from being headquartered in Santa Clara, powered by Silicon Valley Power (SVP), which currently provides 50% renewable energy to our grid. Because our team is 75% remote, our primary impact lies in our "digital supply chain" and the energy used in our home offices.
Our Four Strategic Pillars
- High-Efficiency Office Operations
While we lease space in a multi-tenant building, we take ownership of our indirect emissions.
- The Goal: Shift our office energy to 100% renewable sources.
- The Action: We are actively engaging with our building management to enroll our suite in SVP’s Santa Clara Green Power program. We have also implemented "Smart Power" protocols to eliminate idle energy waste in our physical office.
- The Sustainable Remote Workspace
Since most of our team works from home, their energy use is our concern.
- The Goal: Transition 100% of our remote workforce to renewable home energy plans.
- The Action: We will evaluate adding a Green Energy Stipend to any employee who switches their home office to a 100% renewable utility plan.
- Digital Hygiene & Green Coding
We utilize Google Workspace, a provider committed to 24/7 carbon-free energy. Our focus is on optimizing how we use these tools.
- The Goal: Reduce "Dark Data" storage and energy-intensive processing.
- The Action: We practice "Green Coding" by optimizing our local development environments and maintaining a strict data-retention policy—reducing the energy required to store and sync unnecessary files in the cloud.
- Circular Hardware Procurement
The most significant carbon cost of a computer is its manufacture.
- The Goal: Minimize "embedded carbon" by extending the lifecycle of our tools.
- The Action: We have moved to a 4-year minimum hardware lifecycle and prioritize purchasing Energy Star 8.0+ certified equipment. All retired electronics are recycled through certified e-waste partners.
Our Targets
- 2026: Reach 100% renewable energy for our physical office via SVP Green Power.
- 2027: Achieve 75% adoption of renewable energy plans among our remote workforce.
- 2028: Reduce our cloud storage footprint by 20% through data minimization.
- 2030: Net Zero Operations: Reducing all controllable emissions and offsetting the remainder via high-quality carbon removal.
