Fasthosts Takes on a New Green Initiative

Green web hosting services are emerging as more companies come to realize the negative affect data centers of the world have on the environment.  Some of the industry’s biggest names are making the switch to green energy, a trend that is being seen throughout North America and Europe as well.

Based in the United Kingdom, reseller hosting provider Fasthosts is actively participating in a green initiative to reduce its impact on the environment.  The move is said to ensure that all web hosting services will be run out of a green data center, making it the only provider that offers unlimited green reseller hosting solutions.

On Tuesday February 17, Fasthosts was announced as being a part of United Internet’s Global Green Initiative, a program that uses renewable energy to prevent an estimated 30,000 tons of carbon dioxide from being released into the environment.  Additionally, Fasthosts is deemed a certified green host by Green-e, a voluntary non-profit certification organization that specializes in programs for renewable energy.  The UK reseller host also announced that it would be purchasing  enough RECs (renewable energy credits) from the non-profit BEF (Bonneville Environmental Foundation) to entirely offset electricity usage at its data center located in Kansas.

Steve Holford, Chief Marketing Officer at Fasthosts, says it is important for the company to deliver its resellers a service that allows them to succeed.   Holford’s statement also touched on how environmentally hosting products and services are in great demand, leading to the provider’s decision to offer customers the ability to sell their own green hosting packages at no additional cost.  Aside from being a valuable selling point for resellers, Fasthosts prides itself on being a company that is running an environmentally responsible service.

Many companies are boasting green hosting but not all are making the efforts required to run an eco-friendly service.  In fact, several web hosts simply offset their greenhouse gas emissions by investing in green initiatives in other locations, ultimately facing criticism for merely paying someone else to pollute the environment.  The Fasthost partnership with BEF gives the assurance that revenue generated from RECs provides direct support for new watershed ecosystem restoration and renewable energy projects.  According to an October announcement, the majority of the RECs will be contributed to the Power Company and Bowersock Mills facilities in Lawrence, Kansas.

Considered a veteran in the industry, Fasthost has being serving small and medium sized businesses in the UK for nearly 10 years, making it one of the largest providers in the region.  The company launched its service in the United States back in September of 2008, hoping to use its market experience to garner success in North America.  Fasthosts claims that its U.S. customers are provided with around the clock service as well as localized support agents that can be reached via phone or email.  All of its U.S. customers get the benefit of the provider’s state of the art green data facility in Lenexa, Kansas and an infrastructure that delivers 30 gigabit high-speed internet connectivity.