(This is the last article in a five-part series.)

Once you’ve virtualized your servers and consolidated your storage, you’ll probably notice a lot of extra space in your data centers—so much, in fact, that you may be able to shut down one or more of them, slashing real estate and energy costs in the process.

Alternatively, consider building an entirely new facility. Although doing so entails significant up-front costs, it’s a golden opportunity to implement green IT measures literally from the ground up. For example, Bryant University, in Smithfield, R. I., reduced its operations budget—which includes electricity, heating, cooling, and administration—by 20 percent when it constructed a new data center, according to Rich Siedzik, the school’s director of computer and telecommunications services. Thanks to virtualization technology, Siedzik says he is using only half the 1,000 square feet of data center floor space available.

Jacob Hall, vice president and chief architect for the corporate and investment banking unit of Wachovia Corp., in Charlotte, N.C., is similarly adopting energy-saving strategies as his company builds a 25,000-square-foot data center in a new 48-story office tower. Advanced modeling software from IntePoint LLC, also in Charlotte, N.C., enables Hall to calculate his equipment’s performance per watt. By comparing that data with anticipated revenue from the applications running on his servers, he can spot and potentially eliminate systems that cost more in energy than they produce in income.

After you’ve gathered the low-hanging green IT fruit, you’re ready to contemplate more exotic technologies such as solar and wind power. Laxmi Rao, IT energy coordinator at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in Cambridge, Mass., says she is currently evaluating a scheme to make ice at night, when electricity is cheaper, and then use it to cool the university’s data center during the day.

Whether or not you ever embark on such advanced initiatives, taking even the most basic steps toward a greener data center earns you the right to bask in the glow of being a hero thrice over: for bestowing state-of-the-art IT products on your co-workers, for making your company more competitive, and for helping to save the planet.

Stan Gibson is a Boston-area technology writer.

Other articles in this series:

Getting started on green IT, part one: Update your hardware

Getting started on green IT, part two: If it’s not in use, turn it off

Getting started on green IT, part three: Virtualize, virtualize, virtualize

Getting started on green IT, part four: Straighten out your storage