There is absolutely no doubt that the data center business is not just growing, but blooming several fold across the globe. And as companies spend millions of dollars on building, maintaining and developing data centers, a new report suggests that close to $45 billion will be spent on giving them a green and eco-friendly makeover.

Green data center business set to double in market share by 2016,

That figure is more than double the $17 billion that is forecasted to be spent on making data centers planet-friendly and energy-conscious in 2012. And experts predict that this spending on going green will involve more than just a single measure as companies are forced to take up energy saving steps for both sound economic and ergonomic reasons.

One of the major reasons why companies (and we are talking about some of the biggest corporate names on the planet here) are opting for green measures is to not just sport a clean and progressive face for the sake of consumers who are rapidly becoming aware and concerned about environmental issues, but also to cut down on tabs and become less and less reliant on conventional power.

Zero-energy data centers are quickly taking shape and this means that either the data centers are relying on alternate sources of power or they are paying for green energy elsewhere to offset their data center carbon emissions.

Apart from purchasing carbon offsets, the other option that people are looking at is the reuse of heat energy that is generated from data centers. With all the electronics and peripherals generating loads of heat, companies are tapping into this to generate thermal power as well!

This means that companies will be investing billions of dollars in the next couple of years to ensure that they get the LEED Gold Certification or the European equivalent of it, as it also helps the image of the firm. And that means more investment flowing into data centers everywhere.