Silicon Valley is known for both innovation and hype. Recently, this group of innovation has extended beyond bandwidth to environmental protection. Google and Yahoo, the search engine giants, are based in the Valley and have been making headlines by greening their offices, reducing energy use and carbon trading. The PR motivations are obvious, but do the ecological benefits really exist? To differentiate hype from reality, we’ve looked at the green value of Google and Yahoo headquarters facilities.

We examine the ecological services provided by green landscape features such as trees and open space (ie, lawns). Grass and trees are permeable surfaces, meaning they allow water to soak into the ground. Asphalt roofs, sidewalks, patios, and parking lots are examples of impervious surfaces, where rainwater drains into public storm drains. Heavy metals, oil and other pollutants wash out of parking lots with rainwater, often leading directly to open water habitats where fish, birds and reptiles live.

In terms of ecological services, trees and grass have been shown to:

1. remove and store carbon from the atmosphere,

two. Remove certain airborne contaminants,

3. Allows rainwater to seep into the ground instead of draining into storm drains, and

Four. Remove certain waterborne contaminants.

Here’s a look at how green Google and Yahoo really are and how they stack up against each other.

Google Green Report
Google’s headquarters, the Googleplex, covers 44 acres, nearly 50% of which is grass or tree canopy. This is an impressive relationship between paved and open space. The grass and trees in the Googleplex remove approximately 2 tons of carbon from the atmosphere per year, or 0.04 tons per year per acre. Also, 530 lbs. of air pollution are removed per year (for example, ozone, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and particulate matter), or 12 lbs. per year per hectare. The Googleplex parking lot was assumed to be asphalt and not a porous pavement type, so the cost of managing stormwater runoff from the Googleplex is $4474 per year, or $103 per year per acre. The abundance of grass and tree canopy in the Googleplex goes a long way toward offsetting water quality impacts from paved surfaces (primarily the parking lot). On average, grass and trees reduce water pollution by 6%, as opposed to paving the entire property.

Yahoo Green Report
Yahoo’s headquarters, the Yahooplex, covers 28 acres, a third of which is grass or tree canopy. This is a classic paved to open space ratio for large office complexes in California. Until now, for the course. The Yahooplex removes 0.36 tons of carbon from the atmosphere per year, or 0.01 tons per year per acre. 114 lbs. of air pollutants are removed per year, or 4 lbs. per year per hectare. In terms of rainfall, the cost associated with runoff is $9,219 per year, or $331 per year per acre. Grass and tree canopy help offset paved areas with a 2.3% reduction in water pollution compared to paving the entire property.

The final green analysis?

Google kicks Yahoo’s butt, largely because of the foresight, or luxury, of the Googleplex having 50% of its owned acreage providing green services. The good news for both Google and Yahoo is that over time, as trees grow, so will the canopy and mass of the tree, thereby storing more carbon and removing more pollutants from the air.

The green next steps for both Google and Yahoo are:
 

1. Install porous parking surfaces, allowing up to 80% of rainwater to seep into the ground,
2. Install green roofs, which absorb rainwater and reduce cooling costs and energy consumption, and
3. Plant larger trees on the south and west sides of buildings to reduce cooling costs and energy consumption.

While we crunch the hard numbers to solve the Google vs. Yahoo Green Debate, this report illuminates the great opportunity that awaits these two Silicon Valley giants to take advantage of the ecological services of green surfaces.