VITEC GreenPEG Initiative

VITEC’s GreenPEG Initiative is finding ways to reduce environmental impact across all stages of its production Ecosystem.

The GreenPEG initiative goes beyond investment in carbon reduction projects to retroactively offset all emissions. Creating efficient, environmentally sustainable operations is critical, from photovoltaic panels to modification of entire product design processes made to minimise environmental impact and optimise the energy consumption of all our solutions. In addition to being environmentally conscious, these initiatives provide economic benefits for VITEC and its partners.

The global technology community is recognising the environmental implications of the high volumes of video traffic that inundate public internet and corporate IT networks. Driven by Philippe Wetzel, CEO and Founder of VITEC, a technology expert in the IP video space, VITEC is keen to shed light on how the industry can balance environmental sustainability and the demand for digital video.

Video represents over 80% of the internet’s traffic, contributing to more than 3.7% of global greenhouse gas emissions. These statistics underscore the significant part played by video in global emissions, especially with the rapid annual growth of approximately 25%.

The accelerating demand for video content driven by platforms like TikTok and WhatsApp also calls for more encoders. Wetzel points out the importance of focusing on video technology details to address the increase of devices and encoders stemming from the rapid expansion in digital video consumption.

In this regard, encoders tend to consume significantly more energy than decoders. Historically, there was an uneven relationship between the two, with a smaller proportion of the population creating video content, thus encoding it, compared to those consuming and decoding video.

However, the exponential rise in professional and personal user-generated video content has narrowed this gap, considerably increasing the sector’s carbon footprint. The growing demand for video content requires industry leaders to re-evaluate sustainability solutions, embarking on initiatives to reduce the industry’s environmental impact.

An effective assessment of the industry’s carbon footprint must cover direct and indirect emissions from designs and strategies. These include the extraction stages of raw materials, design, manufacturing, transportation, and final recycling. Every key player should be involved in reducing energy consumption at their respective stages.

By achieving this, industry leaders can enjoy cost-effective benefits while reducing environmental harm. This becomes a win-win situation for everyone, as green products and services appeal more in today’s increasingly environmentally aware markets.

As part of its sustainability commitment, VITEC introduced GreenPEG, a well-developed methodology to move forward in a sustainable, measurable, and accountable manner. To that end, it is implementing a comprehensive strategy made up of five specific Initiatives.

Modern Facilities. In 2021 VITEC invested in photovoltaic panels and batteries to generate electricity for our manufacturing needs in three separate facilities: 1 in Germany and 2 in the US (California and Georgia). In 2022, VITEC built a facility in France that is up to the latest standards in energy efficiency. In 2023, VITEC upgraded facilities in Scotland to include high-performance heat pumps.

Streamlining Logistics. In 2022, VITEC moved its U.S. logistics center from the West Coast to the East Coast to consolidate and reduce the surface area of our supply chain. This means fewer trucks have to travel fewer miles to meet its logistical needs. By the end of 2023, VITEC achieved a similar outcome in Europe by moving to a single logistics center.

Embracing energy-efficient design principles. VITEC has integrated eco-friendly requirements into our design control process and architecture. This has already had a major impact on its hardware and software designs.

1.  Software, for instance, is responsible for power management. By dynamically switching off — or into sleep mode — all hardware functions when not in use VITEC can significantly reduce the impact on the overall energy consumption of our products once they have been deployed into the market. A great example is the VITEC SmartLink function for ChannelLink IP Gateways. This feature can monitor video streams and detect if one is no longer being used. When this happens, the IP stream will automatically stop transmitting to save power. This is only one example of how VITEC is embracing energy-efficient design principles. It illustrates how intelligent, sustainable software design directly impacts power consumption.

2. On the hardware front, VITEC selects the least-consuming components and designs for optimal power. This leads to more compact products, fewer raw materials, and less weight, reducing production and transportation costs.

3. Product recycling.  Whenever possible, VITEC uses raw materials with the best carbon footprints to ensure that the packaging and components for its products are easily recyclable.

4. Implementing real-time energy monitoring and controls. VITEC will begin integrating real-time energy monitoring and reporting on its future products. This will allow customers to assess their products’ overall power consumption and therefore be able to select the best mode for any specific application.

These steps have contributed significantly to VITEC’s ability to minimize its carbon footprint. VITEC ensures it follows measures to impact carbon emissions positively, such as measuring its ‘carbon footprint’ to understand how it can be impacted/improved, to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions throughout its operations.

However, it is not enough for a single company to engage in sustainability initiatives. An industry-wide effort is required. That is why VITEC is enlisting its key stakeholders, partner organizations, and even its competitors to join in creating sustainability initiatives across the entire ecosystem. Its next step is to help guide the next video compression standard to ensure it is more eco-friendly and fast-enabled. To do so, it is assembling a consortium of industrial and academic partners.