Editorial
The Gist
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Reducing digital inefficiencies. Digital asset management can minimize storage volume and redundancy and help organizations reduce energy use through centralized file management.
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Maximizing asset reuse. DAM systems help organizations reduce new asset production by increasing the reuse of digital assets, which cuts down on emissions related to travel and physical production.
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Balancing DAM’s footprint. While DAM systems help sustainability efforts, optimizing data centers’ energy sources is crucial to make sure there’s minimal environmental impact from digital asset storage.
Organizations worldwide have committed to meet ambitious environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals that require measurable progress in sustainability. Reducing physical waste, cutting emissions and sourcing renewable energy is not easy, however, especially within the information technology side of the house.
IT accounts for roughly 2% of global carbon emissions, and data centers alone consume about 1% of the world’s electricity. As enterprises continue to scale digital operations and adopt AI, these numbers are expected to grow. Because technology is both a solution to sustainability issues and a contributor to them, finding a balance is not always straightforward for businesses.
Digital asset management (DAM) systems are at the intersection of this challenge. They offer a unique opportunity to reduce physical and digital inefficiencies. But does DAM’s carbon footprint outweigh the benefits? Let’s explore this potential paradox further.
Table of Contents
- How Digital Asset Management Supports Sustainability Goals
- Balancing DAM’s Digital Footprint
- Core Questions Around Digital Asset Management and Sustainability
How Digital Asset Management Supports Sustainability Goals
DAM can offset corporate energy use and carbon emissions in a few important ways.
Reduced Storage Volume and Redundancy
Long-term asset storage can be one of the largest energy consumers within IT environments. On average in the U.S., storing a TB of data will use 100 kWh of energy, resulting in 44.10 kgCO2e, which in itself isn’t a lot. As of Dec. 19, 2024, the average brand using Acquia’s DAM system had 138,214 files taking up 3,445 gigabytes (3.445 terabytes) of storage space. That amount of storage generates 137.8 kg/CO2e over the course of a year, which is equal to burning 15.5 gallons of gasoline according to the EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator.
One teammate’s commute to the office could generate that amount in a few days. Not too much cause for concern.
But think about the total storage volume of your organization’s media assets. Then multiply that by the number of duplicates and data silos there might be floating around the company. In addition, for organizations that produce or acquire large volumes of media assets, storage needs can climb to the hundreds of TB or even PB scale. For example, article co-author Kara works with an organization that stores over 6 PB of media assets, which may produce 265,140 kgCO2e annually (more or less depending on the energy source). That is equivalent to the energy use of 35.6 homes per year.
By centralizing large file assets and minimizing duplicates across an enterprise, digital asset management helps lower overall storage costs and footprint. Coupled with cloud computing infrastructure, digital asset management software can help with intelligent storage tiering, which means placing less frequently used, high-resolution files in “cold” tiers that use less energy, and frequently used, low-res files in “hot” tiers according to access needs. DAM can also help with automating retention policies, so that everything is not stored indefinitely.
Increase Asset Reuse, Decrease New Asset Production
Travel is probably the most energy-demanding aspect of creating digital assets. The energy it takes to move around photographers, video teams, models and equipment can potentially outweigh the digital carbon footprint of those assets. Flying two people from Chicago to San Francisco generates 813 kgCO2e, which is six times more carbon than a DAM system that stores 3 TB worth of data will generate from storage over the course of a year.
A robust digital asset management system that allows for asset reuse and reduces the need for new production can help cut down on these expenses and emissions.
Reduce Waste in Product Development and Production
In the fashion and apparel industry, which contributes 2% to 4% of the world’s total emissions and produces significant waste, there is an urgent need to reduce overall its climate impact. One area of opportunity is in product design and development, where brands increasingly use 3D digital assets in the product creation process to speed time to market, reduce production costs and reduce the need for physical samples in the prototyping process (one of the largest sources of waste).
3D assets are used in the marketing and sales of these products, which reduces the number of photoshoots (see note on travel emissions, above) and allows virtual try-on and manufacturing on demand. By some estimates, 3D technologies have the potential to reduce a brand’s carbon footprint by 10% to 30%.
DAM has an important role to play in this transformation. By using DAM to house 3D assets, including virtual materials, components, design files and final product assets, brands are able to reuse assets throughout the supply and demand chain. Integrating DAM into the product development and delivery lifecycle minimizes waste and shipping of physical product samples, and it reduces the need for new production.
Related Article: Story Engines Are the Next Evolution of Digital Asset Management and AI
Balancing DAM’s Digital Footprint
As we’ve seen, DAM might help reduce emissions in some areas. But is it also a contributor?
DAM systems rely on digital infrastructure like data centers, which require land use, heating and cooling, so obviously DAM is a contributor. DAM systems do more than data storage and transmission, but attempting to measure every action (i.e., API calls, file transformations and video transcoding) is beyond the scope of what we can do here. Plus, if we tried to calculate it all, our heads might explode.
While DAM systems are more likely to reduce carbon footprint than contribute to it, there are things you can do to optimize your system and minimize its impact.
Determine Where Your Vendor’s Data Centers Source Electricity and Adjust Accordingly
Carbon footprints depend heavily on where a data center is located and what sources of power it uses. In Washington state, for example, over 83% of electricity generated is carbon-free. But Washington only has 92 data centers. With 486 data centers, Virginia has by far the most of any state, but only 36.6% of its electricity is carbon-free.
Generative AI Content Is Low-Emissions Compared to the Human-Made Type
Until recently, few people worried about the energy consumption of data centers and cloud computing. Then along came ChatGPT in November 2022.
Now, seemingly everyone worries about the energy demands of software and AI. Because AI has such a voracious appetite for electricity, top tech companies are investing billions of dollars to secure sources of nuclear energy.
This raises questions for brands that use DAM platforms and other digital customer experience (DCX) technologies, most of which depend on cloud data centers and, increasingly, generative AI. As DCX systems lean more on AI for metadata tagging, content creation, personalization and customer support, their energy demand will grow.
But, before swearing off generative AI as unsustainable, consider the conclusion of this study published in Nature. “AI systems emit between 130 and 1500 times less CO2e per page of text generated compared to human writers, while AI illustration systems emit between 310 and 2,900 times less CO2e per image than their human counterparts.” Human beings are a lot less energy-efficient than AI by virtue of being alive. So, as AI progresses toward general intelligence, let’s not ask it to optimize our society for net-zero emissions. That might not end well.
Be Mindful of How, as an Industry, We Lean on AI
AI content creation might have a small carbon footprint, but efforts to integrate AI into all aspects of digital experience could take the average internet user’s footprint way beyond current levels. AI will double energy consumption in data centers not because marketers are making infographics, but because everything including process automation, supply chain management, customer support, scientific analysis, medical diagnosis and high-frequency trading start to rely on it. So, save it for meaningful applications.
Using DAM has a negligible carbon footprint. However, a digital civilization built on heavy consumption of data and content has an annual carbon footprint similar to air travel. Streaming a high-definition video on Netflix requires about 3 GB per hour, so a two-hour movie adds up to 0.36 kWh (three-and-half lightbulbs running for an hour).
A study in Nature estimates that the average internet user emits 229 kgCO2e per year through web surfing, social media, music streaming and video conferencing, which translates to 25.8 gallons of gasoline. Across the world’s 5.52 billion internet users, that’s 1.264 billion metric tons kg/CO2e, a little over 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
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DAM systems may not use much energy or contribute much to emissions and climate change, but the society and culture supported by DAM sure does. It’s difficult to picture a future where brands create less content, cut back on digital experiences or downgrade from rich multimedia to barebones alternatives.
In truth, the sustainability of digital asset management, DXC and digital life depend more on innovations in energy and electricity production than anything an individual brand or DAM admin can do. Let’s do what we can while keeping our potential impact in perspective.
Core Questions Around Digital Asset Management and Sustainability
Editor's note: Here are two important questions to ask about DAM and sustainable practices.
How does DAM contribute to sustainability?
Digital asset management helps support sustainability goals by reducing storage volume, minimizing asset duplication and optimizing storage efficiency. By centralizing media assets and automating retention policies, DAM reduces energy consumption and lowers overall carbon footprints. It also allows organizations to reuse assets, which cuts down on the need for new production and minimizes emissions from activities like travel or manufacturing.
Does DAM have a carbon footprint?
Yes, DAM systems rely on digital infrastructure, like data centers, which consume electricity and have their own carbon footprint. However, DAM typically helps lower emissions by improving storage efficiency, promoting asset reuse and minimizing the need for physical samples. Brands can further reduce DAM's environmental impact by choosing vendors with green energy practices and optimizing system usage.
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