Green web hosting companies power their servers through renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. Working online without any paper trail may seem green, but if the servers of a hosting company are emitting CO ₂ then the purpose of going green is defeated . Just a few companies started off with renewable energy back in 1996 during its infancy stage. Today, green web hosts are standing eye to eye in competition with larger web hosting services.

Understanding the difference between regular and green web hosting

Because of the out-of-sight-out-of-mind psychology, a lot of people tend to forget the importance of choosing green web hosts for their online properties. Behind the scenes, we have data centers with computers, servers and cooling systems that consume significant amounts of power. The carbon released from these centers effect the environment directly.

To offset that, green web hosting companies make it a point to use the electricity from renewable sources to run their business. They also implement ways to reduce the electricity consumption without compromising on the quality of services that they provide.

Benefits of choosing a green web host

Resource Optimization: Green web hosts ensure that customer requirements are balanced effectively with the resources at hand. They first determine the amount of power needed based on virtual simulations and then offer services to meet those needs.

Renewable Energy: Green web hosts ensure that the power they require is provided by renewable and naturally available resources, such as wind and sunlight. Some web hosting services switch to lower-emission sources of energy such as propane. Although propane isn't exactly a renewable resource, it is a good alternative because it can be produced in abundance and costs much less than fuel.

Efficient Machines: Since data center servers consume high amounts of power, green web hosts prefer to go with machines which have a lower rate of CO2 and heat emissions -- reducing the electricity and environmental cooling requirements in the long run. Furthermore, the machines are well maintained to avoid disposal after a few years.

Efficient Layout and Management: Efficient layout of networks and servers in the data center improves cooling and electricity requirements to a great extent. Regular maintenance and management of the servers and networks also assist in reducing any unnecessary consumption in the long run.

Service Levels: The service levels of all green web hosts are generally as good as other hosting services. Watch out for renewable power certifications to feel confident about their efficiency management levels.

Measuring reliability and performance

There is a common misconception that the reliability and performance of a green web host is not at par with their non-green counterparts . As with any other web hosting company, in order to measure its reliability and performance, we should look into the following factors:

Customer Service : Given the nature of online businesses today, web hosting companies  have to provide reliability and efficiency 24x7 to make sure that everything runs smooth.

Minimum down time : Check the percentage of downtime of the green web host of your choice. There's a big difference between 99% and 99.99% up-time in web hosting. Think about the effect it has on the market when popular apps like Twitter go down - they have to justify the Fail Whale's presence to millions of users within minutes. Consumer expectations of service have changed with time, and they are often unforgiving when they can't access your sites and applications. Remember, down-time directly effects bottom line. 

Cost : Get this straight - low price may not mean the best service. Evaluate your hosting needs and then decide if the cost of the package is justified, both economically and environmentally.

User f riendly : The interface and support system of any web hosting service should be user friendly. Since  you might have to deal with the hosts in tense situations, it is best to choose the most usable, scalable and flexible services to make the interactions smooth. 

Easy installation of applications : Before buying hosting, make sure that it supports the applications that you will be using. For example, it should be able to support your preferred content management system for your business website or blog which may be on Drupal, Joomla, WordPress or other platforms.

Top 5 eco-friendly web hosts

As more web hosting companies have started going green, the competition to get the attention of the eco-savvy crowd is becoming fierce. Here are 5 eco-friendly companies that stand out.

SuperGreen

Super Green services all user types, for this reason, it's one of the highest ranked green web hosts in the industry. It focuses on providing all its services and reporting control online, while maintaining 99.9% server up-time. It also offers one free domain name for unlimited domains that you can add to your hosting package. SuperGreen provides 24x7 online customer support, and has also been awarded the Best Green Host award for 2009, with their operations primarily relying on wind power.

GreenGeeks
Green Geeks offers a competitively priced green hosting service powered with wind, offering all the required server configurations and applications support that you would need for any of your websites and data requirements. With round the clock service, GreenGeeks supports their customers to the fullest at no additional cost. The website and its services have also been published in PC World in a 2008 review.

HostGator
Host Gator claims to eat up its competition. It offers an unlimited web hosting service at a nominal and highly competitive monthly rate, with all applications and server configurations support that you may need. It also has a large corporate presence, and focuses on facilitating resellers as well. The hosting servers and its data center are powered by wind.

ThinkHost
ThinkHost started in 1999, motivated to run on 100% renewable energy, and continue to do so and rank amongst the top green global web hosting services. They also provide discounted hosting to non profit organizations, while providing efficient services to its regular customers on economical costs.

DreamHost
Dream Host has been in business for 11 years now with employees who themselves own and run the company successfully. They focus on CO₂ neutralization, and economizing on resources to maximize power efficiency and also buying out carbon offsets and reducing their carbon footprint. Customer support is 24x7 with over 99% uptime.