Green hosting, at the price you’d pay anyway
Servers on 100% renewable energy, a tree planted and a solar lamp donated for every yearly plan, and 1% of our revenue for the planet.
Renewable energy
For both data centres, the servers and the office computers.
Of revenue to the planet
Every year, as a member of 1% for the Planet, 1% of our revenue funds environmental projects.
Planted per annual plan
With Tree Canada, for forest preservation and restoration across Canada.
Given per yearly plan
A solar lamp to a family without electricity in Africa, via SolarAid.
Green hosting starts by admitting the web made things worse
The internet feels weightless. It isn’t. Every page view runs on servers that draw power around the clock, on networks that carry the bytes, and on devices that had to be mined, manufactured and shipped. Add it up and digital technology emits as much as the airline industry — and unlike aviation, it is still growing fast, pushed by video, cloud and now AI.
We’re a web host. A share of that is ours. Calling our hosting “green” only means something if we cut what we can and show you where to check it — which is what the rest of this page is about.
- 1.5–4%
of global greenhouse-gas emissions come from digital technology — on par with or above aviation’s 2.5%.
- 415 TWh
of electricity used by data centres in 2024, about 1.5% of the world’s total.
- ×2 by 2030
Data-centre electricity use is projected to roughly double, to around 945 TWh.
- 30%
of the digital footprint is embodied: mining, manufacturing and shipping the hardware.
Sources: ITU & World Bank, Measuring the Emissions & Energy Footprint of the ICT Sector (2024); Freitag et al., Patterns (2021); IEA, Energy and AI (2025) and aviation tracking (2023).
What does green hosting mean?
Your site lives on a server somewhere. That server draws electricity around the clock. Where the electricity comes from, how much the building wastes, and what happens to the hardware afterwards — that’s the whole question.
Does where I host really make a difference?
Yes, and it’s one of the few climate choices that costs you nothing. The same site draws the same power wherever it runs; what changes is the grid behind the plug and how much the building wastes on top. A server on hydro power in a water-cooled facility can emit a fraction of what an identical server does on a coal-heavy grid under air conditioning.
Does green hosting cost more?
No. Our green plans are priced like any other hosting — being green costs you nothing extra.
Where are the servers, and what powers them?
In France and in Quebec, in water-cooled data centres with no air conditioning. Over the last reported year both ran on 100% renewable energy; the Quebec campus sits beside a hydroelectric station.
Do you offset your emissions?
We don’t put a percentage on it. Without a published carbon report an offset figure couldn’t be checked, so we stick to what can be: the energy figures on this page, our 1% for the Planet giving, and a tree and a solar lamp for every yearly plan.
Who checks this?
Ex2 is listed in the Green Web Foundation’s directory of green hosts: you can check ex2.com there yourself. Our 1% for the Planet giving is certified every year, and the projects we funded are listed publicly.
Powered by renewable energy
Renewable electricity is the biggest lever a host has, so it covers the data centres, the servers and the office alike. Efficiency comes next: the less a building wastes, the less energy there is to source in the first place.
Renewable energy, bought outright
For the data centres, the web servers and the office computers alike.
Low-carbon grids where we host
Hydroelectricity in Quebec and, in France, one of Europe’s lowest-carbon grids.
Listed by the Green Web Foundation
An independent non-profit keeps a directory of green web hosts; ex2.com is in it.
We only rent space in data centres that waste little
Every kilowatt-hour a server uses, a building spends more on cooling, lighting and power conversion. PUE measures that overhead: total facility energy divided by IT energy, where 1.00 is perfect. The industry has been stuck near 1.56 for five years. We host in France and in Quebec, in facilities that do noticeably better — and that run on 100% renewable electricity.
Water-cooled servers, no air conditioning
Heat is pulled off the chips by a closed water loop and shed through dry coolers — the single biggest reason the overhead stays low.
Hydro and renewable power, 100% of the time
The Quebec campus sits beside a hydroelectric station; the French sites are covered by renewable energy contracts. Renewable energy factor: 100%.
Servers built, repaired and reused in-house
Hardware is assembled locally and refurbished rather than scrapped — that’s how we go after the 30% of emissions that come from manufacturing.
Energy overhead (PUE)
1.00 = every watt reaches a serverOperator figures for Sept 2023–Aug 2024, measured per ISO/IEC 30134-2 (PUE) and 30134-9 (water). Industry average PUE: Uptime Institute Global Data Center Survey 2024; water: US Department of Energy estimate.
What we claim here, someone else lists
You won’t find an offset percentage on this page: without a published carbon report, nobody could check it. The rest you can, with the organisations we work with.
Every yearly plan plants and lights
Two partners, two concrete gestures — counted per plan, not per promise.
1 tree for every annual plan
Planted through Tree Canada for forest preservation and restoration projects across the country. Reforestation is one of the few carbon-removal methods that already works at scale.
1 solar lamp for every yearly plan
Given to a family in Africa without access to electricity, via SolarAid. Those families already live with the effects of a warming climate — a lamp changes evenings, homework and safety overnight.
Green starts at the office
Data centres are the big number, but an office has a footprint too. Here is what the Quebec City team actually changed.
Paperless
Invoices, orders, specs — everything stays on screen.
No disposables
Ceramic mugs, real cutlery, an espresso machine without capsules.
Meetings by video
Whenever possible — no flights or drives just to talk.
Low-power hardware
Modern, efficient computers, the same tech we deploy on our servers.
Work from home
Why take the road to sit in front of the same screen?
E-bike credit
A credit toward a bike or any electric means of transport.
Our partners
- Tree Canada
- SolarAid
Ready to host green?
Same price, smaller footprint. Pick a yearly plan and we plant the tree.