Google Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Starting from 2015, Google issues environmental report that contains the details of Google CSR programs and initiatives. The following are the most noteworthy parts of Google performance in important fronts of CSR taken from Google Environmental Report 2016 and other sources.

Energy Consumption by Google

• Google data centres consume 50% less energy compared to a typical data centre
• Google purchases or produces 24% of renewable energy and the company has 11% renewable electricity already on the grid, thus total use of renewable energy accounts to 35%. The use of remaining 65% energy which is non-renewable is neutralized by carbon offset projects.
• In Mountain View campus 1.9 MW solar panels generate more than 3 million kWh clean energy
• Google has made an agreement to invest more than USD1.5 billion in renewable energy projects such as large-scale wind and rooftop solar panels.
• More than 4 million square feet of Google buildings have achieved green certification status by LEED.
• Alphabet Inc. Google’s parent company has committed to invest USD2.5 billion in solar and wind projects[1]
• The average annual power usage effectiveness (PUE) for Google’s global fleet of data centres was 1.12 in 2015, compared with the industry average of 1.7
• To date, 854,000 square meters (9.2 million square feet) of Google office facilities have achieved Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification.

Overhead energy use as percentage of IT energy in Google data centres

Water Consumption by Google

• Google data centre in Berkeley County, South Carolina alone uses about 4 million gallons of surface water per day[2]
• From 2013 to 2015, the internet giant reduced potable litres of water used per employee  by 30% at its Bay Area headquarters
• In total, six of Google’s operating data centres have achieved 100% landfill diversion, and one of these has reached Zero Waste to Landfill
• The company has set regional water reduction targets for its offices in 2017

Waste Reduction and Recycling by Google

• In 2015, Google has diverted 84% of waste from its global data centre operations away from landfills, and so far in 2016, it has diverted 86%.
• In 2015, 19% of the servers Google deployed were remanufactured machines
• In 2015, 52% of the components Google used for machine upgrades in company data centres were refurbished inventory

Carbon Emissions by Google

• The company has been carbon neutral since 2007
• Google’s ‘Commuting Sustainably’ program keeps 5,700 cars out of the road and company shuttle program and electric vehicle charging stations is equivalent to more than 87 million vehicle miles annually.
• Google is increasing the range of its operations in cloud, a platform that is carbon neutral with positive environmental implications
• From 2009 to 2015, the company’s carbon intensity per revenue (metric tonnes Scope 1 and 2 CO2e/million USUSD) and per full-time equivalent employee both decreased by more than 50%.

Alphabet Inc. (Google) Report contains a full analysis of Google corporate social responsibility including Google CSR issues. The report illustrates the application of the major analytical strategic frameworks in business studies such as SWOT, PESTEL, Porter’s Five Forces, Value Chain analysis and McKinsey 7S Model on Google. Moreover, the report contains analyses of Alphabet leadership, business strategy, organizational structure and organizational culture. The report also comprises discussions of Alphabet marketing strategy and addresses issues of corporate social responsibility.

[1] Google Environmental Report (2016)

[2] Gallucci, M. (2017) “Google’s data center raises the stakes in this state’s ‘water wars’ Mashable, Available at: http://mashable.com/2017/04/23/google-data-center-south-carolina-water-wars/#PRDbupADkaqO