Green initiative by the company focuses on simple solutions to reduce energy consumption.

The Planet, a privately held dedicated hosting company, today announced initial results of its lights-out program, a company-wide initiative to reduce energy consumption through more efficient use of lighting. Implemented across all of its facilities in Houston and Dallas, the company claims that it will reduce its yearly energy consumption by more than 1.4 million kilowatt hours, delivering an annual cost savings of almost $140,000.

In its six data centers, with more than 56,000 servers, the company says that it has initiated a lights-on policy from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., down from 24 hours a day. Data-center technicians who work around the clock now turn on lights as needed in computer rooms. The lights-off policy extends to all data center facilities, including the computer, electrical, battery, UPS and mechanical rooms, it adds.

The company further adds that the program also extends to its corporate offices in Dallas and Houston. Motion-sensor lighting has been installed in all individual offices, with main lighting and HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) programmed to run from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. For 12 hours of the day, 95 percent of office lighting remains off. Only the areas staffed 24/7, including the Call Center, Network Operations Center and Sales, have the option for after-hours zone lighting and HVAC.

"Texas is the energy capital of the world, so we're acutely aware of conserving resources," said Jeff Lowenberg, The Planet's vice president of facilities. "At The Planet we employ a common-sense approach to energy conservation, so our lights-out program focuses on another simple solution to reduce energy consumption."